I remember at the time I created this strip I was really into plague doctor masks, so I think this was probably just an excuse for me to force one into the comic so that I could draw Orneryboy wearing one. The title is a reference to the Prince song but with the year changed to 1665, the year of the Great Plague of London. I have no idea if they even wore these masks during that particular outbreak of the plague — I always tried to put a lot of thought into my titles, but apparently not TOO much.