I think the problem is a combination of the two: Bendis, who knows that his past successes still give his name enough weight and awareness that he can do a garbage job and people will still turn out to buy it (I thought his Superman was great at first but that, along with JLA, soon became the equivalent of a bad cover band trying to capture his earlier work, when he was actually trying to write compelling stories) and DC, who know what his name means and basically gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with little-to-no resistance, probably coming from Didio (good riddance). A good editor, when given the opportunity, can work as a partner to a writer to hone their work and make it the best possible version it can be. Clearly, whether due to apathy, fear, being starstruck, or having their hands tied by higher-ups, that didn't happen here.