Eh, not quite the same thing. It has more to do with the fact that fans have always had a really strange relationship with creators, up to and including various unfortunate events perpetrated on creators by fans. The fact that Cranky Old Uncle Harlan broke it down in 1982 does not mitigate its continued appearance in modern fandom.
Waid himself has a story - related recently by Warren Ellis - concerning a bunch of fans who had him fly into the middle of nowhere for a signing, only to find that the store never existed and they just wanted to hang out with him for a couple of incredibly uncomfortable days. Dude has issues, and there are entire issues of Irredeemable that read like a hilarious fuck-you from him to his readers. The dealer comes to hate the junkie.