I'm noticing that I'm starting to like characters that I used to hate. It's weird. First it was Sentry. I couldn't stand that glowy bastard but then he popped up in that first issue of Punisher (and Punisher! That's another one! How did he sneak in?) and I didn't hate the mopey freak. Then I really liked him in Dark Avengers, even when he came back to life, which is just another display of ability to toss onto the hype pile, but I actually smiled because of it. Punisher I mentioned, I've been reading his series with Remender and liking it. Back on Dark Avengers, I don't think I ever was resistant to the idea of them, but I see them written well in their own book and in others. The characters don't always act like they should, but for the most part they work. They've risen from characters I mostly didn't care about either way to a team that I really like seeing. The last one would be Thor. I hate Thor. Well, I hated Thor, but I haven't missed a single issue of his current title. I just like reading it. I know it's not just Thor though because I'm liking everything I see in the book, not just him. I'm thinking that it's not the characters, it's that the writers are finally good ones, or at least ones that portray the characters in a way that no longer offends me.