Meta Humor in Sherman's Lagoon, Part 2

(Read Part 1 here)

 Leading up to the sequences presented today, I thought I knew where Jim Toomey was going with this week's "Sherman's Lagoon" continuity. Sherman and Hawthorne are talking about a cartoonist on the beach, a stand-in for Toomey who draws "Norman's Reef."

But then the strip took a strange turn, and it seemed to be no longer about being a cartoonist but about other careers a lazy shark might like. And then it came back to the start. Sort of.  (click on images to enlarge)

In this sequence, Toomey breaks the fourth wall and asserts his power (by turning Sherman into a hot dog.)

Then we seem to be moving into a story arc about different types of minimal-effort jobs.

Then we come back to the comic strip theme in a truly meta fashion. Not only are the characters aware that they're in a comic strip, but they show that they're not even fully finished (when they don't have to be).

And the sequence wraps up in the direction it was going in all along. Sherman eats the cartoonist, ending "Norman's Reef." Most newspaper story arcs begin on a Monday and end the following Friday or Saturday. This one began on a Friday, and finished a week later on Saturday. The extra time allowed for a plot twist or two, and Toomey delivered without ever letting the momentum lag.

There's a lot to unpack in this sequence, and to me, that's just part of the fun of being a comics reader.

Meta Humor in Sherman's Lagoon. Part 1

Jim Toomey's "Sherman's Lagoon" ran a sequence in late February 2015 that I found fascinating. In it, Sherman and Hawthorne observe a cartoonist on the beach. As I read each day's installment, I was lead in some unexpected directions. The first part seems pretty straight-forward. (click on images to enlarge).

It starts by playing off the misconception many have that comic art isn't "art."

In the second, we get a little taste of the meta. "Norman's Reef" is clearly an alternate version of the very strip the characters are living in.

The third seems a contemplation on the paradox of cartooning (and other creative work) -- solitary creation for mass consumption.

And the fourth continues riffing on the low status of the cartoonist.  Toomey seems to be speaking through his characters to comment (and make fun of) his occupation. And it appears that the cartonnist in question is, in fact, himself. But then something strange happened... (as you'll see in Part 2).