Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Marten's fundamental character

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themacnut:
Don't feel bad about not noticing female come-ons, Carl. I didn't notice them either; in fact my wife had to be as aggressive as Dora to get my attention, that's how oblivious I was to her interest (didn't help that other women around me flirted just to flirt and denied everything when I tried to follow up-ah, college). Besides, female flirting is designed to be deniable. If you don't notice, no serious harm done. If they change their mind, then they were never flirting with you in the first place far as they're concerned ("Hey I was just being friendly").

Is it cold in here?:

--- Quote from: Joax737 on 14 Dec 2010, 21:05 ---edit: didn't marten say his mom bought pintsize for him as a graduation gift

--- End quote ---
To the best of my knowledge, no.

trclocke:
newbie with a comment on today's comic.  This thread seemed like a relevant place to say it.  I am immensely glad to see Marten show some sign of being fallible and human.  Thus far he's really been painted as sort of a saintlike protagonist.  He was long overdue for some form of fuckup, and I think this one was very appropriate.  Bravo.

cyro:

--- Quote from: trclocke on 15 Dec 2010, 02:58 ---newbie with a comment on today's comic.  This thread seemed like a relevant place to say it.  I am immensely glad to see Marten show some sign of being fallible and human.  Thus far he's really been painted as sort of a saintlike protagonist.  He was long overdue for some form of fuckup, and I think this one was very appropriate.  Bravo.

--- End quote ---

Marten's messed up plenty, but usually it's as a result of his "nice guy" nature (or façade?) not contrary to it. So in that sense you're right and adds to him as a character. For better or worse is yet to be determined.

raoullefere:
The first part of your bio seemed pretty solid, Kazukagii, but this part is shaking in the breeze getting a tad speculative. We've still got no solid evidence Veronica controlled Marten. She could just as well have tried to overcompensate for things not working out with Henry and tried to be so supportive while she considered Marten a child (I suspect this changed once Marten reached his majority) that Marten never really had to try to do anything. A ton of single mothers do this, and when the kid leaves the nest, he has simply no idea how to fend for himself. Marten's not that bad, but I think a case could be made for him showing some of the signs. For one, he never seems to be that worried about lacking—or at least hasn't up until now (not to be confused with thinking something's missing—more on that in a sec). And I think a dominated child would respond either more submisively or in an absolute rage to Faye—one of the two.

Yeah, I know 's-mothering' is another form of controlling, but it doesn't produce this 'lost his say' thingy Kazukagii's cobbled up. To me, that's a backdoor into 'spineless Marten, and I haven't and don't buy that. Marten has a spine and has gotten it up several times. He hasn't, however, been extreme* about it—perhaps because he never had to be, since everything would eventually work out.

Only it hasn't with his relationships. I wonder if Marten doesn't resent that as much as he resents Dora dumping him on 'false charges.' Hence the rage, and hence tonight's lil' episode.

*Another footnote. I may be twitching my patella here, but every time I see someone try to label Marten as 'spineless' what I really see are people conditioned by pop culture—in quite a few of those shit-eating sit-coms Carl was referencing in the Weekly, not to mention quite a few films—to perceive any character who doesn't make an extreme gesture when their 'rights' are trodden on as 'spineless.' By the same token, when Marten more or less flipped his shit on Dora (admittedly, she was egging him to do so—how else was she going to bring things to an end? Welcome to Self-destruction 101, folks), here came all the glad cries of "Woot! He got a spine! Don't lose it, dude."

Oy.

I think Marten seems to be a mostly well-adjusted guy with, like all of us, some problems in his approach to life. Some of the things he's doing aren't working, and he's finally gotten upset about this, because, as I've said, people hate changing—and boy-oh-boy, I mean pretty nearly everyone when I say that (even down to the 'perpetual motion' freaks who get upset if things aren't constantly changing).

Marten is going to have to wake up, pick himself up, take stock, and make some alterations—or he's probably going to keep on having the same thing (moar crazee girlfriends, Marty?) keep happening. Everybody, from the bum on the corner to the wall street sneak-thief worth two gazillion on paper, goes through this and makes the choice, either doing something about it or going on as they have been. John Mellencamp wrote a song about some people deciding making change is the way to go—"The Real Life." Sooner or later, I suspect, everybody wants one, and you'd be amazed at how their definitions vary.

Welcome to Humanity 101.

Marty's been coming at this, I suspect, from several angles (in fact because that seems to be the one commonality all Jeph's characters have. That's why he likes Hanners—she's come up against it, made the choice, and is trying like hell ever day to see it through). It's already hit  the 'where I am going' nerve. Now it's banging him in the relationship plexus. The more I think about it, the more I think that's what's going on with Marten.

If you want to hear Mellencamp's tune, this is the best I could find—a concert vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_igpr-Cpnc4

Edit: trying like hell EVERY day. And the damned strike-through. I think I get over-heated, like a teapot. Only in my head.

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