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[Tormuse]

Marten's in a no-win situation here;  I've been in a relationship with someone with jealousy issues and I know that there's some information you just don't volunteer regardless of how innocent it is...  but if she finds out, look out!  "Why didn't you tell me?...  etc. etc."  Next, Dora's going to assume something's going on because Marten didn't talk about it right away when really, considering Dora's history of negative reactions, Marten has good reason not to talk about it.

Man it's almost like when you recycle the same stagnant uninspired boring-ass drama that sucked the first time you did it, you get the same retarded-assed reactions to the stagnant uninspired boring-ass drama that you got the first sucky time you used it!  

Oh man who woulda thunk it?!  

And yet...  You're still reading it!  How about that?  

[SuperSUGA]

Cue completely idiotic "Dora\'s a bitch!" "No, Marten\'s a jerk!" debate on the comic discussion boards.

Y'know, when I see comments like this from the author I wonder what kind of comments he really expects on these boards. Does he just want people discussing the art? LOL'ing at the jokes? Talking about Faye's Boobs? What?  (Of course we already do all that and then some) I just don't understand how he can have his characters behave in certain ways and NOT have people talk about it.

I would be LOVING the discussions here if this were my comic, even if I didn't always agree with all of them.

Very good point. That sort of thing really baffles me.
An artist doesn't have to respond to everything said about their work and for me it really hurts the feeling of professionalism to make little comments like that about a portion of the people that enjoy the comic. Some people read the comic for the characters and plot, some people read it for the references, some read it to enjoy the art and others read it to really enjoy the character art.
Some will enjoy it by themselves, some will talk about it with friends, others will post on the forums. The nature of this sort of thing is that people will draw from it in ways that the artist might not have intended and I don't see any need for the artist to make little passive-agressive jabs at anyone who reads the comic.

[MegaLexi]

Wow, Dora went from mildly kooky and lovable to restraining order and a deer rifle nuts pretty quick there.

edit: nurr spelling

[Malek]

I think Dora should just sit down,relax and take a damn chill pill.


Poor Martin,poor College chick,poor Raven,

[weirdbeard]

Man guys if Dora was my girlfriend I would totally just start like making out with her or something right there on the counter because she looks so hot when she is angry 

seconded.

[Border Reiver]

Oh hoo-fucking-ray, more Clingy!Dora. If Marten had a spine, he would've dumped the hypercontrolling bitch by now.

Of course, if Marten had a spine, he'd've never hooked up with her, because women like that are attracted to the kinds of men they can gut like a fish and then have the man apologize because some of his blood splashed on her shoe.

I'm sensing some barely repressed issues RM, come on over, lay down on the couch, relax.

Now tell the complete strangers where life touched you.

[epitomynut]

It is my personal belief that Dora isn't being overly psycho-protective. She is angry at Marten for making it difficult for her to add Smif-chick to her lesbian harem. Said harem includes Faye, Penny, Raven, Hanners, and Tai. Smif-chick would add a youthful innocence that is lacking from the harem.

[orgasmtechnician]

I think Dora had a huge over-reaction. My ex girlfriend had major jealousy issues, and a situation somewhat similar to this happened once before. I sympathise with Marten.

Edit: Spelling, sorry.

[jasononline]

I wouldn't say Dora is overreacting as much as you people think.  She already knows that one girl asked him out, and he didn't mention it at all.  If he doesn't mention the one time she already knows about, there could be many other times she doesn't know about (not helped by the fact that Marten replied, "No" when she asked if anything out of the ordinary happened, which she could possibly interpret as meaning he gets asked out a lot).  A lot of people are being a bit hypocritical here, unless you are as goody goody as Meena's ex-boyfriend Dave then I can pretty much guarantee that every single guy in this thread would feel at least a little mad/upset/jealous/whatever if they thought their girlfriend was working at a place where good looking men asking them out was commonplace.  From my experience it would be no different for a good portion if not exactly the same for the ladies.

Granted, perhaps Dora got a little more angry than some of us would but hey, drama makes for good lulz.

[snubnose]

I wouldn't say Dora is overreacting as much as you people think.  She already knows that one girl asked him out, and he didn't mention it at all.

So what ? Thats because Marten didnt thought thats very important. It was more of a 5 minute annoyance that he forgot about later.

At least thats how it would be for me.

[wargrafix]

I wouldn't say Dora is overreacting as much as you people think.  She already knows that one girl asked him out, and he didn't mention it at all.

So what ? Thats because Marten didnt thought thats very important. It was more of a 5 minute annoyance that he forgot about later.

At least thats how it would be for me.

For friggin real. She was something passing that never happened. I see blood, and breakups.

Or perhaps Dora feels threatened? Young hotness versus her weird ass hairdo. Hotness wins.
Hope nameless chick becomes a regular.

[weirdbeard]

ass hairdo?

[bhtooefr]

ass hairdo?

Excellent use of xkcd #37.

[BryanP]

It seems fairly straightforward to me.  Dora has major major insecurity issues.  Marten didn't want to set them off by telling her about something that didn't mean anything to him.  She'll get pissed, he'll get defensive, they'll both get over it. It's called being in a relationship.  

Although, just once I'd like to see her do something stupid or insensitive that really pushes his buttons and pisses him off.

[pwhodges]

Already happened: 1098.

[Headwoünd]

Oh my god, could it be? He's gonna get out drinking with ...

I'm afraid to say it, not after last time. °~°

[Jace]

Do you take notes or something on what happens with all of the comics? seriously paul, how can you reference them that well?

[Rocketman]

Already happened: 1098.

Except then Marten got told off for not immediately rolling over for her, then Dora gave a heartwarming explanation that totally did not affect her future behavior at all.

[absofflab]

....aaaaaand Dora has fallen to the bottom-rung of the characters for me as of this strip.

Jealousy's bad enough.  Trying to trap someone when you have no good reason to (The girl said that Marten told her he has a girlfriend.  Isn't that enough?)?  That's a SERIOUS character flaw.  And I'm sorry, her stated reasons for being like this simply don't fly.  Having a bad high school experience or an asshat for a brother who casually is hypersuccessful at everything does not condone acting like an idiot over a decade later.  Christ,  Faye's had a much worse past, and her behaviour is still unforgivable.  Dora simply doesn't have a leg to stand on.

[EllJayusMaximus]

It's idiotic to call a bitch a bitch? How about Jeph's a jerk? "Isn't Hanners CUTE?!?! Don't you DARE insult my Dora! HAHA look what I did to Steve!"

What's idiotic is how long I'll keep sticking around and taking abuse from the author of a comic that was already more fun in the archive when I started reading (circa Hannelore's Mother storyline).

[314]

so what would be the best action in this situation.  if marten brought up that he got asked out, I think it would sound like he's flaunting it to make dora jealous.  There was no reason for Marten to think that Dora knew about the girl, so I understand his decision to be silent at first.

maybe he should have admitted it in panel 3?

[Buggman]

Eh, Dora's overreacting to be sure, but there are several reasons for that:

1) She's always had insecurities about relationships
2) We just went through a major time-skip; this may be about the point or past the point that her previous relationships broke up, making her extra paranoid
3) She's wondering just how often Martin's getting hit on that she doesn't know about
4) We'd lose a lot of funny if she didn't have problems #1-3.  Rule of funny, guys.  Sheesh.

Interestingly, I've been through this with my fiance:  She spent most of the first eighteen months of our relationship worried that some other girl was going to snatch me away.  At one point, she was seriously jealous about a girl who is a) fourteen years younger than me, and b) my unofficially adopted sister.  She has yet to threaten anyone with a sword (darnnit--that would be hilarious!), but we've had to go through the reasons I'm dating her and not someone else a few dozen times now to reassure her.  

So yeah, sit back and enjoy Guts!Dora.  And for the spelling/grammar nazis out there, find nine typos and the tenth one is gofuckyourself.  

[Tybalt]

Futile attempts to do the impossible

That's more like it.

[Calaveth]

How about waiting to see how big a deal this really is. Nobody likes it when they feel their partner is keeping secrets from them. Also, the strip ends mid-conversation. If Marten goes on with "Well, I didn't think of it as a big deal. You know, I told her I have a girlfriend, and that was it" and Dora doesn't accept that explanation, *then* I think she's over reacting.

[wargrafix]

lol, faye must be gloating at the shit that going down.

[rofl]

When Dora is like this the comic isn't very fun to read. This is why she's my least favorite character. There's no reason to react the way she did, especially because she knows that Marten turned the girl down.


She also knows that Marten is epic amounts of faithful, i.e. the Hannelore's boob strip.

[Headwoünd]

It's idiotic to call a bitch a bitch? How about Jeph's a jerk? "Isn't Hanners CUTE?!?! Don't you DARE insult my Dora! HAHA look what I did to Steve!"

That amused me. =)
It holds some truth, although to his defence, he called Dora's and Marten's (possibly even Faye's, though not very probably) behavior idiotic himself.

"Should be funny." -> in oh so many ways even beyond the comic itself. So very well played. :D

[_Allan_]

I ain't gonna get into the "Dora/Marten" have problems shit ... however, I will laugh at the best part of yesterday (1323) comic: "THUNK!" that was gold.
And the fact that Faye is passin' the blood cleaning to Raven and Penny is fuckin' halarious !!!

BUT as Jeph said in 1098's News post oh Allah the drama it is strangling me

[Tiney]

Dora's insecurities have always annoyed me. At some point that issue has to come to a head.

[Liokae]

4) We'd lose a lot of funny if she didn't have problems #1-3.  Rule of funny, guys.  Sheesh.

Rule of Funny only applies when it's, y'know, funny.  It's probably telling that when there's a newspost joke about how there's going to be a silly "Marten's a jerk, Dora's a bitch" argument, there really hasn't been anyone that seriously thinks Marten's being a jerk, while virtually EVERYONE thinks Dora's being a bitch. *shrug*  The comic as a whole is still funny as hell, but this particular kind of thing? It's more painful to read than anything.  Rule of Funny doesn't get to cover it.

Or, of course, the newspost comment could be a completely intentionally ironic statement and this is *precisely* what he wants from us.  DAMN YOU AND YOUR DIABOLICAL SCHEMES

[sitnspin]

Well, we've done the arc where Faye starts addressing her issues, maybe now we are approaching the point where Dora does the same.

[Liokae]

Well, we've done the arc where Faye starts addressing her issues, maybe now we are approaching the point where Dora does the same.

But character development is a sin!

[QuarterFire]

Man I like the comic better when it was simple gags and not drama drama drama drama drama drama drama drama SNAKE drama drama drama...

[Mallli_kite]

Dora has spouted insecurity before and then realized it and backed down.  Her issues aren't giant economy sized ones and she's not dumb, so at some point the information that Marten turned the girl down (girl is all embarrassed about it) will sink in and she'll come out of the red zone.

In the mean time, it's funny. 

(Character development is NOT a sin!  43 years worth of the same 6 year old kids is just WEIRD.)

[Heranje]

I'm sorry, but it really bothers me when artists diss their fans.

Here you have a large group of people who all like something that you have created, who appreciate your work so much that they obsessively wait for each new installment, invest energy, time and love into your characters and story, and care enough about both that they spend a lot of time discussing it with each other in this forum. And instead of being proud of having created something that can get a reaction like that, you act as though the attention is a nuisance? I enjoy QC and respect Jeph Jaqcues as an artist, but that attitude really irks me. Sure, the discussion in WCT can some times get a little... inane. But you should be glad people care enough about your work to bother discussing it at all! Methinks the artist has been spoiled by fame and a large fanbase.

Hah. Each time I post here, it seems to be about something completely different from the comic itself.

[masquerade]

I think I'm going to stop reading Questionable Content, for the simple reason that Jeph is an arrogant asshole. It's a shame, since the comic is entertaining most of the time and the art is exceptional, viewing where it came from, but honestly I can't respect an artist who doesn't respect his fans. Happy reading, all.

[bhtooefr]

Six words.

At least he's not Tim Buckley.

[kaitco]

Or Jeph is forum baiting.

I doubt he is a fisherman; you mean bating. 

Faye's line is a horse you'll never be able to beat to death imho. May she keep us informed about the clean up-schedule for a long time.

Absolutely! This was my favorite part of the comic. Faye's sarcasm FTW!

I will give Jeph what he already knows is about to happen all weekend:
Yes, Dora is a bitch. As a couple people have already noted, this is not the first time we have seen her go apeshit over absolutely nothing. She has Marten practically wrapped around her finger, but when she learns that some little girl who does not even seem to be his type has flirted with him, she has to assume it is something more than it is. Yesterday's comic was funny; her overreaction just added to the lulz of the nameless chick's bad day, but today, it is just plain irritating.

I agree that Dora will probably realize how she is behaving and calm down, but why does she even have to escalate the issue in the first place? Why can she simply not make the connection between what the little girl said and Marten not thinking the event was worth remembering or even discussing? Obviously, Marten is not cheating on her because after the whole Hannelore-boob-shot, he could barely keep himself together, so I am left to just groan about why Dora is the way she is until Jeph decides to write the "Dora-talk."

Once Faye came clean about her "issues," she noticeably changed and behaves now like someone who at least recognizes that her problems are what drive her to be as mean as she can be. We have already witnessed a minor Dora-talk when she went on about Sven, 1107, but it really only scratched the surface. I know everyone hearts Dora and knows Faye is the only one with unresolved issues in the comic, but these constant sniveling arguments with Marten about their relationship tell me Dora has got a giant walk-in closet full of skeletons that need to come to light if she and Marten are going to survive as a couple.

I think I'm going to stop reading Questionable Content, for the simple reason that Jeph is an arrogant asshole. It's a shame, since the comic is entertaining most of the time and the art is exceptional, viewing where it came from, but honestly I can't respect an artist who doesn't respect his fans. Happy reading, all.

Seriously? I figured it was all sarcasm. If he really got irked by the forums he would already have closed them.

[sitnspin]

Frankly, I don't care how big of an asshole an artist is.  An artist's work stands on it's own.  Be it actor, musician, writer, or whatever, if what they create is exceptional, I don't care what they are like personally.  In the same way that I don't care how nice and sincere they are if they produce crap.  The art should be judged independently from the artist that produces it.  I don't think of Jeff as an asshole, but even if I did I would still read his work as long as I found it entertaining.

[DorkRawk]

... I can pretty much guarantee that every single guy in this thread would feel at least a little mad/upset/jealous/whatever if they thought their girlfriend was working at a place where good looking men asking them out was commonplace....

According to earlier strips [citation needed] CoD IS a place where the girls that work there get hit on all the time (Dora with some meathead, Fay with Angus, Raven with that D&D guy, just to name a few).  I can't imagine there would be any reason for this type of thing to stop.  Barristas are often cute girls who give you coffee! What's not to love!?

[Mallli_kite]

Kaitco, I like your take on the current issue here, but (you knew there was a but, right?) I'd like to throw in another thought re: Dora's closet o' skeletons.  Her behavior does put me in mind of a woman who was once in love and found out, probably long after the relationship ended, that her guy was cheating on her THE WHOLE TIME.  So, she can't REALLY trust Marten and she can't trust herself.  Therein lies the path to total irrational, even bitchy behavior.  No, it isn't a lot of fun to watch, but it does lead one to much entertaining speculation.

As to the funny/not funny and artistic ideas and so forth, either Jeph has some idea he's eventually going to get to, or he thought there was more funny to be had from watching Dora go red zone and Marten shudder in terror -- and, of course, one more line from Faye on the blood cleanup schedule.  I'm hoping on the 'idea to be developed later' path, but I don't fault him for the "one more Faye Comment" gag. The man puts his brain children out here without benefit of editor, committee-for-improvement-of-funny, or (sometimes) much sleep.  It keeps me coming back and pointing others to the strip, so at least for me it's working.

Also, an out-of-place comment (being as I'm all new here and so forth) but it seems to me that announcing once's departure from a forum or cessation of reading anything is a rather passive-aggressive method of trying to say "If you appreciated me, you'd change to be the way I want you to be."  Terribly effective technique, of course.

I wonder if I can get another possessive participle into that paragraph?

[kgbisouttogetme]

i dont know what you guys are talking about with Jeph being a jerk and whatnot. when i read it i actually laughed because it was a joke about exactly what was going to happen in the forums (and has happened since he posted the comic).

also... 2 days ago everyone was in love with dora, and now the dora hate is running rampant on this forum.

[wargrafix]

I think I'm going to stop reading Questionable Content, for the simple reason that Jeph is an arrogant asshole. It's a shame, since the comic is entertaining most of the time and the art is exceptional, viewing where it came from, but honestly I can't respect an artist who doesn't respect his fans. Happy reading, all.

Any logical reason?
Its a scenario he KNOWS will bring about debate. He is just being interactive and not some kind of aloof artist.

[Jander]

So far though it seems like Jeph was wrong, I haven't seen anyone calling Marten a jerk.

[SuperSUGA]

Frankly, I don't care how big of an asshole an artist is.  An artist's work stands on it's own.  Be it actor, musician, writer, or whatever, if what they create is exceptional, I don't care what they are like personally.  In the same way that I don't care how nice and sincere they are if they produce crap.  The art should be judged independently from the artist that produces it.  I don't think of Jeff as an asshole, but even if I did I would still read his work as long as I found it entertaining.

This is the best way to handle such things. I know I enjoy a lot of stuff by musicians and writers that I haven't thought were the greatest people based on interviews and such and I'd hate to be missing out on all that stuff.

[kgbisouttogetme]

Frankly, I don't care how big of an asshole an artist is.  An artist's work stands on it's own.  Be it actor, musician, writer, or whatever, if what they create is exceptional, I don't care what they are like personally.  In the same way that I don't care how nice and sincere they are if they produce crap.  The art should be judged independently from the artist that produces it.  I don't think of Jeff as an asshole, but even if I did I would still read his work as long as I found it entertaining.

This is the best way to handle such things. I know I enjoy a lot of stuff by musicians and writers that I haven't thought were the greatest people based on interviews and such and I'd hate to be missing out on all that stuff.

like when a rockstar spits on the crowd. doesnt mean im not going to the show. just means im not sitting in the front row...... that rhymed.

but i seriously dont think thats what jeph was doing. i think it was just a joke.

[Twelvth]

I actually prefer reading comics where the artists acts like a jerk to their fanbase, as long as the customer service is still there.



Also:  I don't think it's POSSIBLE for me to stop liking Dora by this point.  She entertains me incredibly much.

[Newbia]

Jeph, I love you. You say that drama is going to happen, and lo and behold! XD

I find it really funny that Faye is handling Sven, who is an unapologetic cad, better than Dora is handling Marten. Perhaps they are symbolically switching places?

[Superkid11]

OMG DORA'S A BITCH!!!11 

Though seriously, if I were in Marten's shoes I would begin to wonder if she was really worth the ignition during any little thing that happens. I really thought she'd gotten over it too after the whole Hanners' boob thing. Can you blame Marty for being so nervous to mention it? It's like a cycle.

1. <3
2. RRRAAAGEE
3. ;_;
4. <3 <3
5. Repeat

Yeah, enter the debate... ALL WEEKEND.

I think I'm going to stop reading Questionable Content, for the simple reason that Jeph is an arrogant asshole. It's a shame, since the comic is entertaining most of the time and the art is exceptional, viewing where it came from, but honestly I can't respect an artist who doesn't respect his fans. Happy reading, all.

[Kugai]

Hook, line and sinker eh Jeph?