On the one hand, there are a number of writers whom I wish WOULD move outside of their comfort zone. If I can reduce the vast majority of your stories to a "Run: Macro" program, you need to get a new fucking bag. Chris Claremont has long since become LET ME WANK OFF TO MY FETISH OF WOMEN BEING MIND-CONTROLLED AND CORRUPTED BY POWER, while Garth Ennis could rename most of his stories SO WHO'S UP FOR A TALE OF GUNS, DRINK, SODOMY, BROMANCE AND BLASPHEMY. Hell, even Gaiman occasionally overdoes the THERE'S A WORLD OF MAGIC JUST WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED UNDER THE SURFACE OF OUR GRITTY URBAN REALITY.
On the other hand, some folks really do just need to stick with what works for them. There's this tendency, if someone tries and fails to exceed the scope of their own talent, to say, "Well, at least he's TRYING," and ... just, no. Ennis does not deserve cookies for trying (and failing) to write a straight-faced Spider-Man story ("The Thousand," if I recall correctly). Millar does not deserve praise for trying to write against type by scripting an utterly conventional teen romance comic ("Trouble," which really does need to be reposted here, just to mock it). No, most writers aren't flexible enough to evolve as fluidly as Alan Moore has done, but then again, most writers in ANY medium just plain suck out loud, so let's stop giving them concessions, or claiming that they deserve an audience.