Honolulu Lite
You could call Jim Toomey the Jane Goodall of shark cartoonography, although not to his face. Sharks rule in
Toomey’s ‘Lagoon’Toomey is to cartoon sharks what Goodall is to chimpanzees: fixated. Toomey draws the comic strip "Sherman's Lagoon," which runs in this paper. His main character is a vicious, happy-go-lucky shark named Sherman who lives in a lagoon with his equally carnivorous mate Megan and a cast of zany future entrees. In this "Summer of the Shark," as it has been dubbed by television networks in a feeding frenzy for ratings, the mainland East Coast has become one long buffet table for sharks. A few people have been killed and numerous others horribly injured, a situation that few people can find humor in. But a few of us do try.
Predictably, several humor-impaired readers attacked me for writing columns that looked at the lighter side of being eaten by sharks. I promised to try to contact Toomey to see how a real pro gets away with making fun of bloodthirsty predators. And I was successful. It appears that the way Toomey avoids harsh reaction to his shark comedy is to live in France, an option unavailable to other shark humorists.
I left a message with Toomey's syndicate on the mainland, and he called me from Paris. I was a little surprised because if I was a filthy rich shark cartoonist living in Paris, I'd be sitting in a sidewalk cafe drinking wine and saying "ooo-la-la" to the passing ladies instead of calling a newspaper in Hawaii.
(It turns out that Toomey has a special affection for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin because it picked up his column while he was still self-syndicated.)
"I have received a few e-mails concerning my continuing gallows humor in the face of tragedy," he said. "Basically, I use the excuse that I didn't know about the shark attacks."
It also helps that he draws his strips eight weeks in advance so he can claim that most of the shark attacks have come after his deadlines.
But he realizes that as the shark assaults continue in Florida with the zeal of a sumo wrestler at a sushi stand, that excuse isn't going to hold up.
"The argument I'll start using is that what we are talking about is the truth. There is humor in truth, and sometimes truth comes to the surface," he said.
I'm not sure if I understand what he's saying there or even if I recorded his remarks accurately. In any case, he's clearly still working out his next strategy to ward off queasy readers.
Toomey has had complaints about "Sherman's Lagoon" before. Aside from the daily strip, he's got books out with sensitive titles like "Poodle: The Other White Meat" and "Ate That, What's Next?" That's caused some environmentalists to accuse Toomey of unfairly stereotyping sharks.
"They say, 'sharks are not the man-eating machines you make them out to be,'" he said. (Strangely, they don't complain that sharks aren't the jolly quipsters Toomey makes them out to be, either.)
With "Sherman" running in more than 200 newspapers, plenty of people obviously are eating up his shark humor. For those who don't get it, well, there's no accounting for taste.
Alo-Ha! Friday compiles odd bits of news from Hawaii
and the world to get your weekend off to an entertaining start.
Charles Memminger also writes Honolulu Lite Mondays,
Wednesdays and Sundays. Send ideas to him at the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210,
Honolulu 96813, phone 235-6490 or e-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com.
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