Once upon a time there were three mermaids drinking. Then they run out of booze. Well that was a disappointment, ’cause one finds booze only in sunken ships. Luckily one of them knew some magic, so the dude(tte)s decided to transfer into humans to get more booze.
The triplet consists of fat, curvy and joyful Pearl, masculine, shark-fighting hunk Tooth, and slim deep water wizard Eez. They are the merpeople: bratty, curious, playful and careless by average human measure. They’re like child or wild animals, living in the moment, without thinking the consequences of their actions before, or the future at all. Existential angst is unknown to them, for it is no use underwater.
So the adventure begins with a chaotic tipsy farce. Then it appears that transforming back into a sea-creatures has certain obstacles. The plot deepends and complicates. Luckily a bartender Vivi gives a shelter for the land-explorers while patiently explaining how to do the laundry, how to write a job application, and what is capitalism.
The fun is about the triplet crashing into cultural curiosities of the human world, such as clothes, shower, wage labor and gender roles. When Tooth finally is accepted to a fine job of a bouncer, their mentor Vivi tries to apply makeup on them for the first day of the job. The artificially applied feminine aesthetics fith the tough-built Tooth like a pink hair bow on a hydraulic jack.
Thirsty Mermaids is goofy, laid-back, hot, and skilfully drawn. Leyh truly has studied a variety of bodies and gestures and can draw them from her mind with an ease: beards, shaved hair, big bellies, titties, bums, arms like trunks. Eez’s long, slender and pale body of a deep sea creature is in contrast to Pearl’s bold chubbiness and Tooth’s masculine action hero body. Facial expressions are rendered often in a very simplified manner with a couple of lines, but similarly in a strong, lively way. The coloring is mostly flat tones with bright, saturated colors, giving an energetic, playful impression not unlike a children’s book. The visual appearance of the comic is playful, body positive, queer: the mermaids have feminine body traits in different mixes, but they appear to see their human bodies without concern or shame, seeing them as a giddy vehicles for having a good time.
The story is not an anthology of alcoholic apprenticeship from start to end. Pearl and Tooth will learn humaning by giddy struggling, but becoming slowly understanding at least what to do. Meanwhile Eez hangs out at Vivi’s home, is stressed about trying to invent a way for return to the marine world and is anxious about their human body. Therefore, Eez’s personal story has a specific kind of queer otherness, as they’re of different species, or a (biological) family, than Pearl and Tooth. These deeper tones linger in slowly, making the entire story a touching one.
I read the main theme as the power of friendship, or found family: how to fit in when one is clearly different. This is primarily visible in the triple’s survival quest in humandom, but also their in their backstory of childhood.
I discovered the book at Espoo City Library. Public libraries are a treasure in the way that one can just walk in and discover something unexpected but indispensable. Thirsty Mermaids is not available in Finnish stores, but there’s always webstores. I’d recommend this comics to teenagers and young adults pondering their gender identity, body expectations, or whether one can find people who allow you to be you. Thirsty Mermaids gives an answer of its own kind with a playful, bold and relatable way.
Thirsty Mermaids. Kat Leyh. 2021. Gallery 13. ISBN 978-1-9821-3357-3.
#comics #review #mermaids #fantasy #feminism #queer #bodypositive #KatLeyh
