Catch of the Day

Sherman's Lagoon #8

by Jim Toomey

Sherman's Lagoon is popular because it's funny-not just cute or silly, but truly laugh-out-loud funny. As in many other great cartoons, the main protagonists are animals; however, the residents of Sherman's Lagoon also are genuine, well-developed characters , complete with personalities, moods, neuroses, and their own unique points of view. Whimsically rendered yet written with sophisticated, edgy humor, Sherman's Lagoon has garnered a large, loyal, and diverse fan base.

Welcome to the world of Sherman's Lagoon ! Sherman is a carefree shark; he's carefree because he doesn't know any better. Fillmore the Sea Turtle, Sherman's sidekick, is a philosophical sort who does what he can to make up for Sherman's lack of sense. Ernest is a fish of indeterminate species with the technical savvy and dubious intentions of an ace computer hacker-in fact, he is one. Sherman's wife, Megan, possesses a ruthless yet nurturing nature. Hawthorne, the macho hermit crab, is not actually a hermit, but he is actually crabby. Thornton is an expatriate polar bear who drifted into the tropical lagoon on a wayward iceberg and decided to stay. Captain Quigley, the token human (or "hairless beach ape" in the local dialect), is bent on Sherman's destruction. This ambition may be traced to the fact that Quigley is a crusty old fisherman and Sherman is a fish. Or it may be traced to a long-ago incident in which Sherman ate Quigley's leg!

In addition to satirizing human behavior, Sherman and his friends occasionally have to contend with the threat of encroachment by the beach apes on their unspoiled tropical home. The strip has been lauded by activist groups for promoting the importance of marine conservation.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Cartoon, Fiction, Comic Strips

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Jim Toomey is an internationally published humor writer and syndicated cartoonist best known as the creator of the popular comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon, published daily in over 150 newspapers including The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. Jim has produced 28 Sherman’s Lagoon books, published by Andrews McMeel, and most recently a travel memoir, entitled Family Afloat, about his two years sailing the world’s oceans with his wife and family.

Sherman's Lagoon combines two of his lifelong interests: art and the sea. In addition to drawing his comic strip, Jim is active in ocean conservation and serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Jim has given talks at a variety of venues, including the Royal Society in London, Harvard University and twice at TED. The conservation message in his comic strip earned him the Environmental Hero Award in 2000, presented by NOAA “for using art and humor to conserve and protect our marine heritage.” Jim won the award again in 2010.

Jim holds degrees from Duke and Stanford. He currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and two children, where he tries to get his family back on a sailboat as frequently as possible but can rarely make it happen.

Reviews

[spike marlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughs on every page. Best comic characters since Calvin and Hobbes.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best Sherman but still funny!

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Sherman's Lagoon and this book is a treasure chest of fun and humor! With all the quirky characters, Toomey does a great job of making you laugh out loud without insulting you. Filled with sharks,fish,crabs, and beach-apes, the humor is clean and long lasting!

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites in this collection is when Sherman gets glasses. He tells Meghan he can see better, and that he thought she looked . . .

In the next frame you see Sherman all bruised and his friends saying "You didn't actually say prettier?"

[Momjosh12]

it was good.