Norman's always been an awful human being, all the way since Gwen Stacy.
The difference being that NONE of the past writers or editors of Marvel put Norman IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD, nor did they turn him into such a Canon Villain Sue that Gwen would CONSENT to having sex with him, on the pretense that, according to Joe Quesada, Norman is supposedly "very attractive" and "very charismatic," two words that I would NEVER associate with Norman.
I HATED post-Meltzer Doctor Light, but at least he was ACKNOWLEDGED as a completely irredeemable piece of shit. By contrast, the only way that any number of Marvel's recent portrayals of Norman make sense is if THEY SEE HIM AS THE HERO, and indeed, Bendis even SAID in an interview that "anyone could relate" to Norman Osborn, after he'd received the keys to the kingdom, and moreover, Bendis asserted that Norman would make a "better hero" than the ACTUAL heroes in the Marvel Universe, precisely BECAUSE he's evil.
When I look at Norman Osborn now, I can't help but see him as the wish-fulfillment authorial self-insertion character of Joe Quesada, especially when Quesada goes on at creepy length in interviews about how Norman is so "handsome" and "he has the best hair."