Book Review: TALES FROM THE DEEP THAT ARE COMPLETELY FABRICATED by Jim Toomey

Sherman the Shark, Fillmore the Sea Turtle, Hawthorne the Crab, and the rest of the lagoon gang are back in TALES FROM THE DEEP THAT ARE COMPLETELY FABRICATED, the 20^th collection of “Sherman’s Lagoon” comics. There is no annotation in the book, but based off references, most of these strips appear to be from 2014. Some of the storylines in this collection include Hawthorne being pinched by and becoming a werecrab, Sherman becoming a human lifeguard to win a bet, the guys getting their old band (Smooch – an obvious parody of KISS) back together after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and a Christmas-time allusion to A Christmas Carol that features Hawthorne in the role of a Scrooge-like character. There’s even a long storyline that finds Sherman and Ernest being kidnapped on an interstellar trip to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. “Sherman’s Lagoon” collections usually have at least one environmental issue that is featured and in this collection the main issue tackled is ocean acidification. Overall, TALES FROM THE DEEP THAT ARE COMPLETELY FABRICATED is a nice “Sherman’s Lagoon” collection. It’s a must have for any fans of the comic and is a nice collection for anyone who just enjoys reading good comic strips.