Blame Disney's hypersexual, irresistible Ariel for creating an entire cohort of baby dykes with mermaid fetishes. ('Fess up. You know who you are.) I was born in 1986, The Little Mermaid premiered in 1989, and ever since then I've been fascinated with those seductive maidens of the deep. I have not heard the mermaids singing, but hope springs eternally.

Anyway, this week's comic deals with the very delicate topic of mermaid sexual relations/reproduction. Of course, mermaids have long lifespans and seldom produce offspring, so little is known about their mating habits. (I asked a marine biologist about it one time, but she thought it was a stupid question.) So I had to come to my own conclusions: Mermaids, being pescoid from the waist down, do not possess human genitals and are therefore incapable of sexual intercourse. They both lay eggs, and nurse their young. (Like the platypus.) Mermaids rarely associate with mermen, even during spawning times--however, sapphic dalliances are common. I drew my mermaids without navels, which looks funny, but scientific accuracy on this topic is very important to me.