I will admit that there are times when one needs to assert oneself in a relationship—and Marten did that, very well, in fact, at the end of The Talk. Scanning over that reminds me that Faye could be considered abusive, and not just on the physical end of things, if she'd let things go on much further. Whenever I think i detest Faye, I have to remember that she did do the right thing then, and will, sooner or later, probably do it again.
I see Dora as a person who's worked pretty hard to get over a fairly serious childhood hang-up (I'll remind you that we don't know how the Bianchi parents reacted to Sven poaching Dora's friends: for several reasons they should have told him they were off-limits) and yet, sometimes, lets it get the better of her. Like it or not, try as she will, strong as she has become, that insecurity, that tiny fear that she comes second in everything is going to be with Dora for a long time , and every now and then, or more frequently, it will come out. But she has behaved better—hasn't she more or less accepted the Faye-Sven whateverthehellitis? (Or at least tries to act as though she does, which also deserves credit).
Marten, on the other hand, seems to have always been supported at home, however weird it might have been, He's an only child, too, which can make a difference so long as the parents aren't too self-absorbed. Furthermore, he's used to strong women (I don't think any woman can make it in the porn business as well as V Vance has without being fairly strong. Her friendly relationship with her husband confirms this), which is, I suspect, what attracts him to Dora in the first place. Faye, too, for that matter. (more on that in another post).
As I look over this, I can't help thinking that Jeph is looking at all of these posts and laughing his ass off (which is healthier than getting angry). I don't mind, though. The over-analysis, the mincing and dicing of the plot-lines, the citing of old strips, the attempts to piece a consistent narrative together and discover the inner workings of nonexistent people—god, I love it so!