Yes this drives me up a wall. I think it's something that can work and I've seen it work before (in a Fanfiction as a primary example); but it's perhaps the hardest to really nail down and is so entirely dependent on how you portray it. Instead of trying to 'justify' it, show the reader why they act the way they do and instead let the reader (and other characters in the comic) arrive to their own conclusions based off of that. Instead of slanting things so heavily towards how we MUST feel nothing but sorrow for the guy feeding Pigeons not out of kindness or a love of animals but because he loves to create a sense of dependency on humans and lower their ability to fend for themselves so they suffer in the long run.
That, and, making things progress. Make the character grow as a person, and make it so that people are actually annoyed and pissed off at their behavior or actions. Better still if they actually apologize and try to amend things of their own volition instead of never apologizing but still have people act like doormats for them. And like you said: Consequences. Consequences for actions would help make characters more believable and even perhaps make them more sympathetic. I really don't like it when stories must make a character such an absolute ass unabashedly but they get away with it for one reason or another, and never face any consequences or acknowledge it.
What you described in the second paragraph irks me greatly when I see it.
To the thread creator:
I more times than not drop and move on from a comic if it announces it's taking everything down and rebooting it at some undetermined point in the future. I feel that from past experiences these plans generally don't come to fruition and instead nothing comes of it.
Promising updates or more content at some point and never delivering. I've dropped quite a few comics I genuinely enjoyed because of this. Promises updates at some point, repeatedly, then never delivers. Or delivers months later and drops off again.
Certain characters, ideas, thoughts or plot-points that feel out of place or just disgusting. This is unfortunately quite broad. But something like some maguffin or some new plot-point that I personally feel is entirely out of place and doesn't fit what the comic had to begin with. Like, say, making a cute and endearing slice of life comic then introducing terrorist attacks, violence and death, some zombie fucker with magic, and other crap that is antithetical to what you sold your comic as to begin with.
Another comic I actually enjoyed introduced incest! And that's, no. No. Nope. No thanks. See ya Space Cowboy.