Oh, goodness, feel better! It's no good having percussion in your head.

I quite agree that there's a celebrity writer aspect to many authors --particularly in comics and television, where the writer is also the brand. Many people are fans of Joss Whedon rather than being fans of a particular one of his shows. And I know several Whedonites who follow around other writers from the Whedon shows. I suspect the same is true with the Lost crowd. And in comics, the writer is often the brand starting from the story, but the developing into the personality. I highly suspect Alan Moore and Warren Ellis were just guys who wrote comics before they were eccentric brilliant personalities who people knew from their antics or online presence, possibly better than their work.