As always, JB, I appreciate your specific insights.

Yes, fair point. I meant to write something along the lines of "the most common practice" but left it out in my haste. As JB also points out, it could be the writer just giving a plot summary to the artist as well.

As far as editorial interference goes, I'd imagine it's a question of how long is a piece of string. I was reading recently some comments from Klaus Jansen about his classic run on DD with Frank Miller and he said that because the title was close to being cancelled before Frank's run, they basically had zero interference. I imagine the leash got a lot tighter for other titles.

With long distance bills a thing of the past and the internet at your fingertips, these days, how much time is saved in completing a book?

That reminds me of what Keith Giffen said on a panel a few years back about how he worked with Paul Levitz on Legion - he'd pick up the plot from DC, read it on the trip home (bus or train, I don't recall), and when he got to his stop he'd throw it in the trash and then draw what he remembered.