There is no question in my mind that JB is a better artist today.  Drapery, perspective, anatomy, page layout, and drawing shiny surfaces are all areas that has shown much improvement.

One criticism that I have heard is that the female characters are not drawn as pretty as he used to draw.  That may be due to JB's effort to make their faces more realistic and distinctive.

As for the inking, I don't think I have a preference of whether JB inks or not.  On some projects like Namor or OMAC, JB is masterful.  On others like Generations 3, I didn't like it as much.  When it comes to other inkers, as long as they are faithful to the pencils and have a clean look, I am happy.  Austin, Kesel, and Wiacek fall into that group for me.

••

Fandom would be a much healthier place if more people realized that!

I doubt my 9 year old self would be able to pick up the Fantastic Four today and still have such fond memories 30 years later. In fact, I'd definitely move onto something more interesting than Hickman's "high concept".