Who Will Be The Next Big Writer?

One of the game I have for my Nintendo 64 is Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside. I don't actually play that much. What I usually do is mess with the rosters, then simulate a season. I like seeing what happens if I remove every teams' top two scorers. Who does the computer think will step up*?

Along those lines, I was thinking about the writers at Marvel and DC. I saw some analysis of the year-end, direct market sales figures that concluded pretty much the only writers who sell are Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, and Brian Michael Bendis. I'm guessing it's a combination of their talents, the franchises they work on**, and that Marvel and DC tend to give them (or let them) write the stories that "count"***.

So, for the sake of discussion, let's say all 3 writers announce tomorrow they're taking an indefinite leave from writing comics. Johns is going to work on DC properties on TV and film, Bendis is going to write prose crime novels, and Morrison's going back to his home dimension to visit the folks. Or whatever. Which writers do you think would rise in the ranks to take their spots? Be the go-to folks for big projects?

I imagine DC might consider Straczynski, but he's seems to be sticking to original graphic novels, so probably a no go. Would they give Paul Cornell a shot? They had enough confidence in him to let him turn Action Comics into a Lex Luthor book for a year. They seem to have confidence in JT Krul, so perhaps him, or James Robinson. Gail Simone has fans, though I don't know if there are enough to convince DC to hand whatever the follow-up to War of the Lanterns will be, for example.

At Marvel, I'd guess Matt Fraction. He's writing their next big event, Fear Itself, which could be a vote of confidence. Of course, Greg Pak wrote World War Hulk, and I don't know that he's received a big boost from it. They seem pretty high on Hickman, giving him Fantastic Four. They could always turn once more to Millar, but his output's awful sporadic.

Either company could turn to people not working for them currently, either by poaching talent from each other, or picking up someone working for themselves or at Dark Horse or Boom Studios or wherever. There's always more TV writers, of course.

What do you think?

* My playing the game isn't a good determinant for two reasons. One, I'll always run my offense through the guards, since I prefer to rely on quickness over size. So the big men get ignored. Two, when I play against the computer, it's the exact opposite. No matter who the big men on its team are, the computer runs the offense through them, to the complete exclusion of the guards.

** Though Johns and Bendis built up the Green Lantern and Avengers franchises themselves. I don't think either of those sold as well prior to those two taking over as they do now.

*** That's something I haven't figured out. Did we, the fans, tell Marvel and DC we want big stores that matter, thus they pump out events like there's no tomorrow? or did they teach us that stories should count, and some count more than others, so now we buy the stuff that counts, to the exclusion of a lot of other material? Who trained who, essentially?