In retrospect, I wouldn’t have minded if Steve’s total frat-boy narcissism had been toned down a bit, initially.
That way when Bobbi and Steve first dated, we might have gotten the initial illusion that there was a semi-spark of mutual interest, setting up Bobbi’s later realisation that Steve was just a hopeless idiot. In that way we would have had the pleasure of seeing Steve’s ego actually bruised, with life offering him a teachable moment.
As is, with Bobbi’s indifference right from square one, Steve had the luxury of bullshitting himself without getting truly invested, as he did with pretty much everything else in life.
Hmm, that could have been interesting. I had not seen many of these early strips, and have been struck by how fully-formed Steve’s character is from the beginning.
True. Also, why would Bobbi, an educated, progressive woman, had gone on a date with such a clear red flag? I like your idea of more subtlety at first.
Because there’s literally other no single guys her age in this tiny Midwest town, and he’s new enough that he hadn’t built up a rep.