I'm starting to suspect Oda deliberately introduced him sympathetically.

Totally! We all know that Oda sets up character introductions pretty carefully, and Law just had way too many awesome points, as you laid out so perfectly. (Flipping off Kidd, XD forever!)

Bepo is too cute. I love the immediate deluge of hyper-adorable Bepo+Law fanart from the Japanese fandom as soon as they were introduced. ♥♥♥

I can't wait to get to know the Supernovas in more depth, Oda better bring them back fairly soon!