Product Description

For years, fans of Sherman's Lagoon have been clamoring for a collection that captures the rarely seen early material from the popular strip. Now, here surfaces Greetings From Sherman's Lagoon, the answer to the long-time pleas of loyal followers of Sherman the shark and his sea urchin pals.Those who regularly read the silly yet sophisticated strip will enjoy seeing how its art, humor, and characters have evolved. In the early '90s, cartoonist Jim Toomey was just starting to develop the look and personality of the creatures that its readers have come to love: Sherman and his significant-shark-other Megan, Fillmore the turtle, Hawthorne the cranky hermit crab, and other coral critters. "Just as early Snoopy drawings more closely resembled a beagle," says Toomey, "the characters more closely resemble fish." Toomey adds that his early strips adhered less to story lines and were more focused on delivering a "gag-a-day." Longtime fans and newer readers alike are sure to enjoy noting similarities and differences for themselves in this hilarious turn-back-the-clock collection.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #585697 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
Jim Toomey's Sherman's Lagoon was launched in 1991 and today is syndicated in more than 150 newspapers across five continents. The strip has a fiercely loyal fan base and regularly ranks among the top third in comics reader polls. Jim is every bit as colorful as the characters he draws; his vast hobbies include philosophizing, surfing, and scuba diving. He and his wife recently relocated to Paris, France.

Customer Reviews

A must-read for the
It's "Sherman's Lagoon" before people really saw it! Cartoonist Jim Toomey presents the earliest incarnations of his immensely funny sea-dwelling goofballs, and I am loving every little page of it.

Sherman tries his fin at being a rapper, the Loch Ness Monster makes a cameo at a stamp machine, Sherman learns where he is on the speed dial of love, Hawthorne gets antenna extensions (yes, we see this storyline later in the strip, but it's different and still funny here), and Fillmore makes another doomed attempt at finding his soulmate.

There are some differences between these strips and the later ones. Hawthorne has long eyestalks and almost invisible mouth, there's more emphasis on secondary fishie characters, and some even take place ("Calvin & Hobbes-like") in a classroom with a forbidding teacher. The artwork is a bit rougher, the humor a little more scattered. But these are the same weird, dumb, gag-infested sea creatures we know and love.

Back to the Strip's Origins
In this collection, Jim Toomey takes us back to Sherman's Lagoon in its beginings. While the artwork is a little bit rought back then, the humor is still there. Sherman is a "Great White Shark" and the disposal of all things edible. Together with his girlfriend Megan, friends Hathorn and Filmore, you'll never look at underwater life the same again! Highly recommended for those who enjoy comic strips.

Early Sherman
If you like the later books you'll like this one as well. If you are new to Sherman check out the later books (and their reviews), and if you get hooked come back and get this one. You can also find recent strips on-line (with a one week delay). Just search a little ... ...