How is it possible I am JUST NOW stumbling upon this thread?
I, too, loved the strip (mmhmm THE strip...as in comic...we'll not discuss the action of stripping...not yet anyway) a million and one years ago! (Which is EXACTLY how long ago I came out, btw!)
And with all that being said...I id as a femme lesbian...but, I have always loved the shock effect of the word dyke...especially coming out of my pretty little lips. I love the butches who have told me that it's far too crass of a word to come out of said lips. I love the look on their faces when I tell them that I don't accept misogyny. Regardless of what you think of my lips, the words that come out of them are entirely up to me.
I found great power in the word 'dyke' in my tiny lil sleepy southern hometown. A million years ago (just a year after I came out, remember) a very uptight woman at the mall glanced at my girlfriend and I as we passed her in the mall (we were, indeed holding hands). Her eyes were glued to us! Finally, after she passed, she muttered, "Lesbians. Disgusting." I turned (In my youthful wisdom) and said, "Dykes, thank you..and if it was so disgusting, why couldn't you take your eyes off it, Sweetheart?" And we walked away.
Truth be told, I would probaly do the same thing today
So, I will wrap myself up in the word dyke, fully happy with the id lesbian, and coming to love queer as a description for myself..cuz I find that when you are happy with yourself and you accept yourself for exactly who you are, you take the hurting power out of the words that the world hurls at you like stones...