The problem is that it's gimmicks that work.

The old school comic reader is slowly dying out. Independent LCS's are closing down all the time. People who once were readers are having to sell their collections and stop buying, just to keep up with the economic climate.

The new generation of comic book buyers look at comics as a quick disposable form of entertainment. They'll want to download a comic for 99c, read it once and then never read it again, out of boredom. A quick fix.
Or they'll buy a done-in-one trade from a bookstore. No dangling plotlines, no previous issue boxes.
They don't want 70 years of continuity. They don't care about past characterization.
And it's a gimmick that gets attention.

And comic companies as businesses are leaning towards this in preparation.

The matter is finding a medium between new fans and old fans.

To throw Madison back into AF now would confuse a whole generation of readers. He's not essential to the team, so if he's being written well elsewhere, so be it.