NORTH LOMBARD -- Here's how much Ximena Quiroz loves the insane cult-hit webcomic "Achewood": It's pushing 10 p.m. on a Thursday night, and the 31-year-old tattoo artist is finishing the inks on an "Achewood" tat on Matthew Mercer's right shoulder at The Urban Soul.

The Urban Soul closed two hours ago. And Ximena (pronounced "he-MEN-uh") is offering her services free of charge.

In fact, she's offering free "Achewood" tattoos to anyone who wants them, for the rest of September.

"Ximena's a fan of the strip, and she had the clever idea to drum up business with this promotion," says "Achewood" creator Chris Onstad via e-mail. "From what I understand, it's a repeat-driven business. She sends me new photos every other day or so. We haven't got a red rotary telephone or anything, but it's keeping her busy. We have a high number of readers in Portland due to the large amounts of drugs that are constantly being consumed there."

Mercer is the sixth person to take Ximena up on her offer, and here's how much he loves "Achewood": He and his wife Sarah Day are en route from Boise to Vancouver, B.C., heading to Matthew's new job in computer networking. They took a one-night detour into Portland to meet Ximena after-hours.

"Achewood" tends to inspire this sort of behavior. If you've heard of it, you might want to skip down to the Q&A with Onstad after the jump. If you haven't, an attempt at explaining its appeal immediately follows.