Perhaps we're merely debating a difference in relative degrees, then, because for as many problems as I had with certain aspects of J. Michael Straczynski's run on the title, it's almost impossible to compare his work on Amazing Spider-Man to that of the current "brain trust." Right or wrong (and yes, I do think he got more than a few things wrong), JMS really did have a singular vision and distinctive voice for the characters, right up until "Sins Past," when Quesada Shootered JMS's original plans for Gwen's baby-daddy. By contrast, what strikes me about the "brain trust" is the fact that, in spite of many of these guys previously being recognizable writers whose idiosyncrasies appealed to me, I literally can't tell which ones wrote which stories on this title, just from their writing styles. If you think JMS was already McDonald's (and I'm not going to say you're wrong for saying so), then what I'm saying is that the "brain trust" is so much MORE generic than JMS that they make his McDonald's look like Wolfgang Fucking Puck by comparison.