Catch of the Day: Sherman's Lagoon Collection #8 (Volume 8)

We met Sherman & Friends in the SFO Chronicle, but they aren't in our local newspaper, so we acquire each collection as it is published. Jim Toomey's undersea cartoons are laugh-out-loud for our family. Then they go into the sailboat's library.

I personally think Jim Toomey is the consistently funniest cartoonist working today. When I open my morning paper, I go right to Sherman's Lagoon first thing, because I know it is going to make me laugh. This collection illustrates just how funny man-eating sharks can be, especially when supported by crabby con-artist crabs, bookish sea turtles and polar Bear party animals. I put Sherman's Lagoon on the same plane as Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County and the Far Side: classics all.

This eighth collection of Sherman's Lagoon proves that the waters of creativity have not dried up. Although the back cover may be a little disturbing to some, most of the contents are just plain fun. Some of this volume's story arcs include: Sherman starts a band Fear Factor Comes to the Lagoon Hawthorne starts a fitness center Antiques Roadshow comes to the lagoon Fillmore succeeds at Ascension Island The Hawaiian vacation And lots more including appearances by many old favorite characters. If you are looking for a fun read and some chuckles, you won't go wrong with this one.

If you've ever wondered what the fish in the documentaries do when the cameras are off, then this is the book series for you. From the first page of the book, you are trasported to Kapupu Island Lagoon and the world of Sherman, a not so Great White shark, his femenist wife, a sea turtle who tries and fails in the mating game, a money hungry, federally watched hermit crab, and an uber-hacker fish who is a member of anarchy anonymous. Their world parallels humanity. Its a riot!!!!