I can't understand why people are considering Marten to be a jerk and in the wrong. Obviously what he said was dickish, but I mean, come on, for 1817 pages, the guy has had to put up with other people's shit while no one really gave a damn about his own. The crack is in the dam now and it's only a matter of time before the thing completely collapses.
Look at it from his perspective, just over 24 hours beforehand he was in a loving, though slightly bumpy, relationship with an amazing woman (to him), which made the fact that he had a going-nowhere band and a dead end job that much more bearable, in general made him that happier.
Now, what does he have? An ex-girlfriend whose own issues sabotaged the relationship. A best friend, who in all fairness he has bent over backwards to help, from allowing her to move in, to moving to a bigger place, supporting her with her father's suicide and telling her to go with a guy who can be great for her. His other friends include a girl who would make Freud jump with glee, a guy who until recently had a revolving door leading to his bedroom and a lesbian, who, on numerous occassions admitted she would like to sleep with Dora. Oh and we can't forget the douchebag of a robot whose sole purpose seems to be kicking people when they are at their emotional bottom.
For the whole day he has had people telling him to man up, or he'll be alright, not to mention his world famous, dominatrix mother invited herself to town. Only, he doesn't need any of that, mainly because the three people he had spoken to have had next to no experience about meaningful romantic relationships and thus have no idea about what the hell he is going through. His heart has been ripped out and shoved into a blender.
Is it any wonder then that Marten has drunk an entire bottle of bourbon by himself? There are only two other characters in the strip that have done the same, and one of them has just knocked him to the ground.
Yes, Marten has just been dickish, but at the same time, he has every right to be. The majority of his friends are in relationships and are happy. Even the ones who aren’t in a relationship are alright. He was one of them the day before, and now he has nothing. So if he can’t be happy, why the fuck should they?
The thing about alcohol is that it allows us to air what we really think about the world, it breaks down the walls that we build, even if what we are walling up is the truth. We wall it up because we know that if it would make our world much crappier. We can be content with a lie or a half truth, but when we’re drunk, that doesn’t work, nor should it. Marten has had to put up with more than his fair share of shit from people, most of it from Faye. He has done it with a smile on his face and offered a shoulder for friends to lean on. And now, when he needs one for himself, he finds nothing. Sure, Sven offered to hang out with him….and in the same breath, suggested girls for rebound sex. Tai told him that he is healthier without the caffeine and baked goods, completely missing out on the fact that Marten misses Dora, and then told him to stop being a dick. Hanners gave him back the worry hat, and in doing so, treated him like a kid who stubbed his toe. But what really gets him, is that his best friend, the girl he has helped with all her problems, has fucked off and left him alone while she made out with her new boyfriend. Now that she decided to return home, Faye has been told a few home truths, and doesn’t like it and acted in a way which only confirms it.
At a time when Marten needed his friends, there is no one around to comfort him. So like I’ve said, yes, Marten is being a dick, but damn it if he doesn’t deserve to act like one.