4Kids can argued to be the reason why One Piece never gained much traction in the U.S.
I watched it. And because of it I thought One Piece was complete garbage until years later when a friend convinced me to watch the subs up to the Arlong Park arc.
Exact same thing happened to me. I tried to watch OP when it was first shown here, but I just couldn't keep at it. It wasn't the art (though I do see many people say its a turn-off) per se, but my first impression was that the style was goofy (dialogue, and concept).
How wrong I was though. I started from scratch in 2010 watching the subbed eps this time, and by the time I hit Nami's arc, it just amazed me. Mostly because at that point, it felt more dramatic than Naruto (lol), and Bleach (LOL). As I kept going it started to be funnier too. It wasn't just mindless action, or some swift "cool" sword swing with inserted smugs.
As for OP's art, I really love it now. Take Blackbeard for example. Luffy's opposite (first meeting was hilarious), shown physically, even though they almost seem alike. I love how tall the higher-ups in the marines are too, it really shows how they aren't regular people. When you do meet someone who looks normal, you know they're a badass (Hawkeye, Shanks). It definitely tries not to look boring.
My 2 cents anyway. To each their own!