He also recognizes that the majority of fan[boy]s make their purchases on the strength of the penciller's name.

But a good choice of inker can make a penciller a star. John Byrne gathered a cult following for his pencils fairly quickly, but it wasn't until Terry Austin inked him that he suddenly became John Byrne®

And I never really appreciated Ross Andru until the time I first saw him inked by Tom Palmer and saw the strengths in his art brought forward more clearly.