... I'm gonna give an unpopular opinion.
I hate this comic.
I hate the way that Claire and Marten have turned out. And I ship the hell out of them.
I want to find out more than just how cute Claire and Marten are. I want to find out how Claire feels about the Faye Fiasco. I want to see Marten dealing with the little issues that come up when a cis male dates a trans woman: and there ARE issues. Even the nicest, sweetest, most understanding guy in the world WILL have issues because every real relationship has issues.
I wanted Claire and Marten to have a heart-to-heart about Marten having to cancel their date to take care of Faye. Maybe have a conversation about Faye's friendship with Marten. Maybe explore the fact that Claire is fine with this, which might be a bit weird to Marten because Claire HAS to be the most stable person he's ever dated, and as nice as that is, it has to feel a bit odd that Claire doesn't feel threatened or upset that Marten had to cancel their date at the last moment to deal with an emergency.
I wanted Claire and Marten laying in bed, joking and giggling about how awkward sex was, because the first time is always awkward, no matter how nice it is.
I wanted Marten admitting that it felt a little odd to be dating a transgender woman, after a lifetime of dating cisgendered women.
Because these are the sorts of things that people in a relationship need to talk about in order for the relationship to be open, truthful, and real. And none of these conversations have taken place.
All we've seen is the George Lucas version of the relationship: Marten and Claire swooning over each other and blandly monologuing about how their love for each other is a lovey river of lovey love and everything is absolutely fine!
This doesn't make me happy. This doesn't make me feel like this is the start of a new relationship. This feels like Marten and Claire found each other on the rebound after a single drunken night and are desperately trying to convince themselves and each other that they are happy with each other and belong with each other and everything is absolutely fine! THE RELATIONSHIP IS PERFECT! NO ONE SHALL EVER BE ALLOWED TO SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP EVER! THE FIRST TIME FOR CLAIRE WILL BE WONDERFUL! NO AWKWARDNESS! NO ONE SHALL EVER DO ANYTHING BUT SQUEE AND SHIP THE PAIRING! THERE WILL BE NOTHING OF INTEREST IN THIS RELATIONSHIP ASIDE FROM GLURGEY SACCHARINE CUTENESS! YOU WILL SQUEE AND YOU WILL ENJOY AND THAT WILL BE ALL!
I want the old Claire and Pintsize relationship back. The one where Pintsize holds the paddle, with big puppy eyes, wanting to spank Claire, and Claire indulges him because honestly, it's harmless fun, right? Not LOOOM YOU SHALL NOT SAY ANYTHING PERVERTED TO MY GIRLFRIEND EVER. Claire's a big girl. She can handle that little dweeb.
... There's been a lot of talk going around about how great it is that a major webcomic has a trans character loving a cis character and everything is fine and dandy. I have no problem with that. I just wish we got more CHARACTER, and less "TRANS and CIS."
edit: I elaborated a bit more on my frustration with the relationship.