Fans have usually been more experts on the characters than the writers, but writers used to have editors working side by side with them to help keep portrayals and continuity consistent. For example David Michelinie did not know the Marvel Universe and the Avengers hardly at all when he was first hired by Marvel, so editors worked closely with him, that and they also expected him to do the research, because that's what he needed to do in order to do the job. The current regime at Marvel look down their noses at what used to be standards of professionalism.