That's how they were drawn on the original game, heh! <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Since the fonts are loaded from the main Strife WAD (as well as backgrounds), I don't think there's an easy way to change this, maybe making the transparency a bit higher, so there's more contrast with the background?