Sherman's Lagoon

Sherman's Lagoon
"Sherman's Lagoon" title bar. From left to right: Hawthorne, Sherman, Fillmore.
Author(s)	Jim Toomey
Current status / schedule	Running
Launch date	May 13, 1991 (in Escondido Times-Advocate)
Syndicate(s)	Pacific Press Features (1991) Creators Syndicate (1991–1997) King Features Syndicate (1997–present)
Publisher(s)	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genre(s)	Humor

Sherman's Lagoon is a daily comic strip by Jim Toomey that is widely syndicated in newspapers worldwide after its first appearance in the Escondido Times-Advocate on May 13, 1991. The story takes place in the fictional Kapupu Lagoon by the island of Kapupu in the South Pacific Ocean, west of the Elabaob Islands in the Palauan archipelago of Micronesia. It is centered on the misadventures of an overweight, lazy great white shark named Sherman, his controlling, hot-tempered wife Megan, and the friends and foes they share their tropical home with.

The strip's artwork is detailed and appears in color. Although the characters live underwater, they are equipped with items like computers, laptops, iPods and other gadgets.

The strip is serialized, with the story running for a week or more on some occasions. The daily strip usually runs to four panels. The Sunday strip is in a two-tiered format with a large logo panel appearing on the left of the strip.

The strip's humor is aimed at late teens and adults, with frequent lampoons of famous pop culture icons, and occasional jabs at political figures.

For the most part, the strip's characters respond to killing prey to eat with indifference or coldness, as much of the plot revolves around what Sherman and Megan are going to eat for dinner. For instance, one comic had Megan declaring she was in the mood for Italian and the two sharks immediately sought to find an Italian swimming in the water. Also, a large group of tourists swimming in the lagoon is referred to as 'the buffet'. Poodles are regarded as a delicacy, and Sherman regularly eats smaller fish that swim by. One strip saw a fish committing suicide by swimming into Sherman's mouth while he yawned. Characters have also been seen going to shark-themed restaurants. ('Leg of Pam', 'Bloody Mary's, and 'Beans and Frank' have been named from the menu.) However, on one occasion Megan pulled a tourist under, then let him go unscathed, thus practicing her method of catch and release.

The strip occasionally breaks the fourth wall, with characters acknowledging that they are living in a comic strip. One such strip had Sherman asking Hawthorne when their new video series (called 'Barnacle the Purple Arthropod', a parody of Barney the Dinosaur) would to be produced, and Hawthorne replying 'It's only been one panel.' 'Felt like two.' Another strip parodied Peanuts, with Hawthorne holding a football and Fillmore running to kick it. The ball rebounded off the side of the panel and hit Filmore in the head (this incident followed a conversation they had in which Hawthorne told Fillmore that he wouldn't pull the ball away like Lucy Van Pelt because 'We aren't living in a comic strip').