Snappleshacks wrote:
BillyBatson4360 wrote: There is a crucial point that is missed here. How, in advance, are we to know the quality of ANY story by ANY writer?

By looking at their track record...

Wasn't negating that conceit the whole point of the second paragraph? To wit:

"There was nothing in a more than 20 year history of writing comics that suggested Stan Lee was going to transform comics when he collaborated with Jack Kirby on FF #1. There was nothing in Steve Ditko's work to make one think that he would co-create a hero such as Spider-Man."

That seems to suggest that track record isn't always an accurate measure...