Sherman's Lagoon
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''Sherman's Lagoon'' is a
daily comic strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. They typically are smaller, 3–4 grids compared to the full page Sunday s ...
by
Jim Toomey James Patrick Toomey is an American cartoonist, creator of ''Sherman's Lagoon''. Creative works *''Lunch Wore a Speedo'' - Oct. 2014 *''Here We Go Again'' - Oct. 2013 *''Think Like a Shark'' - Sep. 2012 *''Never Bite Anything That Bites Back'' ...
that is widely syndicated in newspapers worldwide after its first appearance in the ''
Escondido Times-Advocate The ''Daily Times-Advocate'', also called the ''Escondido Times-Advocate'', was a daily newspaper published in Escondido, California. It was founded in 1909 and ceased publication as a separate title in 1995. History ''The Daily Times-Advocate'' ...
'' of
Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...
, on May 13, 1991. The story of Sherman's Lagoon takes place in the fictional Kapupu
Lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...
by the island of Kapupu in the
South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, west of the similarly fictional Elabaob Islands in the
Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...
an
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
of
Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...
. It is centered on the misadventures of a lazy, overweight
great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
named Sherman, along with his controlling, hot-tempered wife Megan and the friends and foes who share their tropical home.


Style

The strip's artwork is detailed and appears in color. Although the characters live underwater, they are equipped with items like
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
s,
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
s,
iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
s 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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
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 The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
, 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 ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series created by Sheryl Leach targeted at children ages two to five. The flagship production of the ''Barney'' franchise, it originally aired on PBS under the PBS Kids brand from April ...
) would be produced, and Hawthorne replying 'It's only been one panel.' 'Felt like two.' Another strip parodied
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...
, with Hawthorne holding a football and Fillmore running to kick it. The ball rebounded off the side of the panel and hit Fillmore 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').


Characters


The Sharks


Sherman

The main character of the strip. Sherman is overweight, lazy and an eating machine. His immaturity and childlike personality frustrates his wife, Megan, to no end, and provides ample opportunities for some of his friends to blindly rip him off. Although not the most intelligent of all the characters, Sherman is a good-hearted
great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
and often tries to please his friends and family, but most of the time falls short because of his low IQ. On rare occasions, he has been shown bringing Megan gifts for no special reason and acting romantic; however, these instances are few and far between and most of the time he's obnoxious, lazy and hopelessly out of touch with his wife. Some strips imply he cross-dresses. He often baits " hairless beach apes" with a variety of items attached to the end of a fishing rod, including beer bottles, wallets, and other props. In addition, Sherman likes to fight
giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, ...
, sometimes for dinner, sometimes just for fun, and at least once over a loan. Dolphins and
giant squids The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum body size at around ...
are his two seaborne enemies. One recurring storyline is the 'roadtrips' he takes with his best friend Ernest to places like the Ganges River, the Nile, the Amazon, and various other places. In a serial published in 2004, he and his wife Megan had a baby shark whom they named Herman. Since then, some of the strip's serials have focused on Sherman and Megan's amusing attempts to care for their newborn child. A series of strips brought in the concept of
shark finning Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark back into the ocean. This act is prohibited in many countries. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins.Spiegel, J. (200 ...
and Sherman was actually 'finned' and died. In 'Shark Heaven' the angel said there were already too many sharks there, so he would give him a second chance.


Megan

Sherman's controlling wife. She always wears a string of pearls around her neck (this also distinguishes her from Sherman in the black-and-white strips during the week). She quite possibly possesses the most fiery temper and personality of the comic strip, and easily intimidates other characters to get her own way. Hawthorne considers her a bossy control freak. Fillmore is downright terrified of her and also considers her a control freak. She is a perfectionist and a control freak; however, she can be just as lazy as her husband. She seldom if ever listens to her husband (which is implied in a strip to be part of the reason Sherman married her since he says a lot of stupid things). Her activities include cooking, shopping, caring for Herman, fishing for humans with Sherman, and often threatening Hawthorne for a number of practical jokes played on her. She almost always ends up coming to her husband's rescue, whether saving him from a swarm of tiger prawns or preventing Hawthorne from stealing all his money. Although she often expresses her frustration with Sherman (and has threatened him more than once) she does love him deep down. She is an avid follower of Martha Stewart and has thrown parties in her honor in several strips. A semi-recurring storyline is Megan's attempts to be accepted into rich clubs, one of them being SnobCrest. However she is always turned away, either because of Sherman or her own rough personality. On occasion, Megan has also fought giant squids. She can also be a bit mean spirited. Megan decides to run for school president because she wants to have unlimited power and immediate approval for her every whim.


Herman

Son of Megan and Sherman. His birth appeared in the April 26, 2004 daily strip after a serialization on Megan's pregnancy that first appeared in the January 25, 2004 Sunday strip. He was named after one of Sherman's brothers. Shortly after his birth, he suffered from an eye disease that placed both eyeballs on the side of his head. Sherman confessed to Megan that it was the result of a recessive flounder gene in his side of the family (incidentally, Sherman also used this opportunity to tell Megan that he never thought
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
was funny). He appears to be a good, well-behaved child, only going out of control when Fillmore volunteered to babysit him (although when he was given a bucket in which to put his toys, the only thing he managed to do was pee in it). He appears to take after his father, once coming in first place in a baby drooling contest. Now, though, he talks and grows up like a normal kid.


Herman #2

Sherman's annoying and obnoxious twin brother who takes up residence in Lake Erie. He is hated by Megan and not regarded fondly by his brother (who was given 'good-morning' swirlies by him as a child). He's also shown ignorance, as when introduced to Thornton he thought the bear was Polish because he was from the North Pole. Herman met his death twice in the series: once when Megan 'accidentally'
harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...
ed him at the breakfast table, and again when he willingly donated his brain in lieu of Sherman's, who went brain dead from watching too much of the O.J. trial. When the other characters found Sherman's brain (which had been taken by a fish during surgery) they decided to freeze Herman's in tin foil rather than try to return it. He has not been seen in the strip since.


Rupert

Sherman's nephew. He was a minor character in earlier strips, showing up now and then to be educated by Sherman, as Herman hadn't been born yet. His character wasn't developed much and his appearances were few and far between. He soaked up everything Sherman told him, even adopting his now retired catchphrase, "Can I eat this?"


The Turtles


Fillmore

The lonely bachelor
sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...
of the comic strip. Fillmore's hobbies include reading, caring for his adopted son, and having as many conversations with the other sea creatures as possible. Most of the time he is seen simply leaning against a rock reading a novel, and acts as sort of a straight man for the other more outgoing characters. Once a year, Fillmore makes the long trip to
Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...
in hopes of finding a permanent mate. However, he strikes out every year, due to his hopeless nerdiness, his complete lack of ability to even engage in a simple conversation with a girl, his overpowering cologne, and his pompous, arrogant attitude. However, he once won the Ascension Island challenge and had an entire island of she-turtles to himself. He promptly fainted from shock and missed out again. He has come close on a few occasions, but the only female to ever fall completely in love with him was an enormous sea elephant, thanks to Ernest's 'pheromone cologne'. One serial even saw the turtle transform into a woman for nearly two months of the comic's duration because he hadn't had a mate for so long. During one trip to Ascension Island, he found a baby sea turtle and adopted him, naming him Clayton. He wishes his lagoon neighbors would act more sophisticated and has been shown watching Masterpiece Theater and operas. He possesses a kind heart, and most of the time simply wants someone to talk to. He is also somewhat controlling as he is often quick to criticize. He has stated in one strip that he is a
Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...
. He is also completely unaware of his own faults despite his friends pointing them out. This suggests he has a narcissistic personality.


Clayton

Fillmore's adopted son. He was found hatching on the beach after Fillmore arrived on Ascension Island for nesting season (only to find that the entire event had been canceled). The moment he was born, Clayton was nearly devoured by a
seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
, but was saved by Fillmore. Clayton's first words are thought to be "300 megahertz microprocessor," but he is seen speaking earlier in the strip's history. Clayton attends boarding school, though he occasionally comes home to visit his father and figurative "Uncle Sherman". His computer skills possibly match those of Ernest, as he once stated that he could make
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
crash. Clayton is usually seen wearing a baseball cap.


The Fish


Ernest

The brainy fish of the strip. He is Sherman's best friend, as they share the same maturity level (due to Ernest's young age). He wears thick, oversized
glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are vision eyewear with clear or tinted lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically u ...
on his nose. Ernest can gain access to virtually any computer in the world and has hacked into almost every file on the internet (he once ordered Vermont to declare war on Canada). He is also known for his crazy inventions, such as a chip that takes control of peoples' brains. He also built a probe and sent it to
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by Sherman. He has gone on many adventures with Sherman to exotic places in the world, such as the sunken
RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...
, the Amazon River, the
Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
, and a Russian lake in
Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
. On one of their adventures they found themselves in a fountain in Las Vegas and ended up gambling away all their money in a casino (as well as several of Sherman's teeth). Like Hawthorne, he hates Bill Gates. He is seldom the central character in the strip's serials; his role is usually solving the lagoon's problems. He once used his computer skills to crash a tanker filled with
Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac, among others, is an antidepressant medication of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disor ...
in the lagoon to stop a pod of suicidal whales from beaching themselves. On occasion, he is the cause of the lagoon's problems (in one strip he tapped into an undersea cable and caused a worldwide telecommunications failure). He was also almost arrested once for illegally downloading every movie on the planet, but wired them all into Fillmore's computer, causing him to be sent to prison instead. Little is known about his family, though earlier strips showed him being one of several dozen brothers and sisters.


Bob

Bob the Bottom Dweller is a bottom-feeding sea creature whose species is unspecified, though he might be a type of
flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuary, estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related speci ...
. He's most often referred to as "One of those really ugly fish." He doesn't speak too often, aside from belching, and has a habit of eating stuff found on the bottom of the sea. Before Fillmore and Sherman discovered this, they thought he was singing opera, but they later discovered that he had swallowed a radio. In earlier strips he was less ugly and could talk, once being shown doing a Groucho Marx impression. In another strip he pulled a gun on the other characters for making fun of him. One of his few speaking lines was a shrill, "AAGH! I'm hideous!" after he wore a cursed necklace that made him look like
Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is an American broadcast Journalism, journalist, best known as the News presenter, anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 y ...
. Bob has returned to the strip in his original largely mute form: a spotted, big-lipped fish with bulging, misshapen eyes and a belching habit. Fillmore once called him 'an angry and sociapathic belcher'.


Other


Hawthorne

The scheming
hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...
of the strip. He is rude, abrasive, insulting, stingy, and a criminal. Hawthorne, unlike other hermit crabs, prefers a beer can rather than a seashell. His interests include scamming the other members of the strip out of money or resources, cracking jokes and insults, and pinching hairless beach apes (and Sherman). A recurring storyline is Hawthorne's many
get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk, skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich qui ...
s and business ventures, usually tailored to rip his friends off. Some of his businesses have included a general store, a photo lab, an airline, a bank, a nuclear power plant, and a casino. His businesses usually flop, either due to bankruptcy, his own incompetence, or his losing interest in his own scheme. His ownership of the local newspaper, the Lagoon Tribune, appears to be the only business he has been able to manage through the course of the strip. He is also the Lagoon's mayor from time to time. Later strips imply that he's been in jail. Other ventures of his included using steroids on an oyster to get him to produce a pearl a day (eventually, Megan, not knowing that the oyster was Hawthorne's, took it to make a Martha Stewart-style oyster provencalê for dinner). In earlier strips, Hawthorne would shed his shell once a year and simply strut around naked (nothing but his rear-end is seen). He also enjoyed mooning scuba divers and his friends and running around singing "I feel pretty! Oh, so pretty!" However, it later seems that he has removed his can for good and walks around in the buff, and his friends don't show the disgust they did in earlier comics. His crab hole has been portrayed several different ways. Early on in the strip it was shown as a posh cave mansion with chandeliers, rugs, china cabinets, and luxurious furniture. It has been portrayed as the typical bachelor pad, housing a beat-up couch and socks and pizza crusts that move on their own. Although little is known about his past, he once revealed to Thornton that he was born in Las Vegas. He hates Windows computers, and therefore
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
as well, once taking great pleasure in pinching his toes.


Thornton

The sleepy, hibernating
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...
of the strip. His first appearance was early on in the strip, when he apparently fell asleep on an iceberg and drifted into the lagoon. He has made it a point to show up every year to hibernate on the beach, sometimes not returning to the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
at all. He was much more active in early strips, as he was depicted waterskiing and attending windsurfing classes. He struggled with homesickness when first introduced, saying that
piña colada The piña colada (; , "pineapple", and , "strained") is a cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with either a pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, o ...
s reminded him of the snowdrifts of home. When asked why he kept returning to the lagoon, he replied that the snowdrifts reminded him of piña coladas. He was shown once at the North Pole, accompanied by Hawthorne. There, his polar bear friends simultaneously guzzle
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
s and the 'pole' has been replaced by a
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
. Among other things, he sometimes serves as a guinea pig for Ernest's experiments, once testing a mousse that made his hair fall out (he apparently has a tattoo on his butt that he got in the army). His relationship with Sherman has been portrayed as both a friendship and a rivalry. He loves to eat frozen tundra-lemmings, and has bragged of devouring an entire team of Russian scientists and their sled dogs. He grew more inactive as the strip progressed, being too lazy to even attend the birthday party Fillmore threw for him. He is mostly shown napping on the beach and drinking a smoothie out of a martini glass.


Captain Quigley

The ever-persistent fisherman trying to hunt down Sherman. Their rivalry apparently goes back years. Sherman once stated, "My mother ate his mother." Quigley has used a number of different tools in his quest to catch Sherman, ranging from an ordinary fishing pole to a killer robot dolphin. One of his more elaborate traps was an exquisite chicken dinner laid on good china on a table with linen cloth (Sherman didn't buy it because he didn't believe red wine should be served with that dish). He caught Sherman once; however, Hawthorne rescued him 'commando style' by rigging the fishing trawler to blow up; unfortunately, he forgot to get Sherman off first and almost killed him in the process. He also may have captured Fillmore. He seems to be constantly outwitted by the shark and his friends.


Kahuna

An undersea statue. He is possibly a
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
, as stated in one strip, and is reminiscent of the
moai Moai or moʻai ( ; ; ) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but h ...
on
Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...
. The other characters come to Kahuna for wisdom, though Kahuna's logic cannot always be trusted as he was unable to help Ernest solve a simple word problem. He's also known to have magic tiki powers. A recurring story element involves him transforming various characters (usually Sherman, Fillmore, and Hawthorn) into humans so they can attend activities such as a
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
concert, a
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
, and others. On one occasion, it was said that he transformed Sherman into a Q-Tip for his own personal use. His arch-rival, a Polynesian fish deity, is Apo-Ko-Hai. A war was nearly started between the two because of Sherman's gluttony, but Fillmore ended the conflict peacefully (except for Sherman, whom he made dress up like
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
). Kahuna has little tolerance for beer, and has stated that he is 800 years old. Revealed in a series of 2020 strips, Kahuna will lose his powers and turn into a normal statue unless he stands under a magic
waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
on a certain island in the lagoon every 500 years.


Broderick

A past character who is not remembered. He is a
seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine Osteichthyes, bony fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meanin ...
who wears thick glasses similar to Ernest's and a striped tie. His character wasn't developed much, as he often appeared in crowd scenes or strips where another straight man was needed. His character was retired in the early 1990s.


Enemies


The Giant Squid

Sherman's arch-rival. He is fat and has short tentacles and two bulging eyes. He has only spoken once in the strip. Otherwise, he makes noises that sound a lot like
flatulence Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...
. His role is to fight Sherman and he is usually the victor (he was shown getting eaten in one strip, but this could have been another giant squid). In one strip, Sherman found that he could not beat the squid at his own game of (Twister), and challenged him to a Monopoly match. They have also been seen playing chess, but once again resorted to violence to solve their differences. He had not been seen in the strip for several years, leading many fans to speculate that his character had been retired. However, he showed up in a later strip at a fancy restaurant where he fought Sherman, leaving him in the end twisted into a pretzel.


The

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

Another of Sherman's enemies. Like the giant squid, the dolphin usually gets the best of Sherman, though he does so by outsmarting the shark rather than fighting him (a reference to the high intelligence of real dolphins). The dolphin regularly takes advantage of Sherman's stupidity, such as asking to borrow his credit card or asking him for two ten-dollar bills as change for a five-dollar bill. Sherman once attempted to have him and the dolphin sign a peace treaty, only to have the dolphin trick Sherman into signing a contract leaving all of his possessions to him in the event of his demise, followed by a contract donating all of Sherman's organs for immediate research.


Gary

Gary is a large blue fish who is the most prominent member of Northside Lagoon, the rival to Kapupu Lagoon. He frequently appears when causing mischief in Kapupu Lagoon or when both Lagoons are competing in the Annual Lagoon Challenge, with Northside Lagoon always winning due to in part the incompetence of the Kapupu Lagoon challengers. In June 2021, Kapupu Lagoon finally did win the annual challenge, partly due to unsportsmanlike conduct on their part.


Books


Collections

A
collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...
is 128 pages, and covers a one- or two-year span of material previously published in daily newspapers.


Treasuries

A
treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
is 256 pages, features the "best of" a five- or ten-year span, and contains comics, most of which have been previously published in the collections.


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Sherman's Lagoon HomepageIMNO Interview with Jim Toomey
{{King Features Syndicate Comics Fiction about sharks 1991 comics debuts Gag-a-day comics American comic strips