Wotta concept! You find a product you like, come back for more -- and there's more! You're not told "Well, maybe in six months, depending on how the roses are growing this year."

Trevor - that lawsuit involved returning late books - not exactly the same thing. Hibbs still orders late books. He just wanted to make sure returnability was a factor. Apples and Oranges.

Paulo - i for one am not interested in Matt Hawes opinion - i agree with JB's definition of a "bad retailer" when it comes to hawes. Toys, marked up back issues in polybags..everything me and JB dont like about retailers. Plus instead of properly running his shop he is busy self promoting and blubbering on youtube.

And keep in mind even if retailers chime in on late books - why do they still order them in droves? Ultimates was months late but still sold very very well. So they talk the talk but dont walk the walk.

QUOTE: Paulo - i for one am not interested in Matt Hawes opinion - i agree with JB's definition of a "bad retailer" when it comes to hawes. Toys, marked up back issues in polybags..everything me and JB dont like about retailers. Plus instead of properly running his shop he is busy self promoting and blubbering on youtube.

Matt uploads videos of himself crying?  Weird.  Seriously, though, now I'm even more interested in what Matt has to say.

QUOTE: And keep in mind even if retailers chime in on late books - why do they still order them in droves? Ultimates was months late but still sold very very well. So they talk the talk but dont walk the walk.

Wouldn't they sell better if they were put out more frequently?

"And retailers wont do anything because they dont care. Most late books still sell if the right creative team is onboard. if timelyness was at the forefront of retailers or readers thoughts then your Doom Patrol series would not have been cancelled."

Well now, that's just entirely untrue.  I know retailers personally and have discussed this issue with them.  If a retailer does not receive new product each week in his store to sell, then he loses potential income for that week and everything else in the financial chain is affected and suffers.  If a retailer does not receive product that has been solicited and paid for in advance by the store, his bottom line suffers tremendously.  Customers lose confidence and interest when their favorite book fails to come out on the date promised.  The retailer's money is tied up in orders that are not filled, affecting his ability to comfortably buy other merchandise for the shop. 

The negative domino effect of late books begins at the retailer level; they are the first to suffer.  That's the reason why so many shops closed down in the wake of the last speculator surge/Image boom that occurred in the early '90's.  Everyone in the chain suffers: retailers, distributors, printers, publishers and staff/talent.  A "hot" book that comes out six months late is generally unable to offset the damage that's been wrought, no matter how many copies or trades it may ultimately (no pun intended) sell. 

QUOTE: They probably would -- but the relentlessly overlooked element here is that they wouldn't have to. As noted upthread, 12 books that sell 12,000 each make more for the retailer than 1 book that sells 100,000.

Agreed, but I'm wondering if ULTIMATES was such a sure seller, what kind of business would it do if 9-12 issues came out a year?  I wonder what kind of business ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN did.  I believe that book kept to an actual monthly schedule.

As Richard pointed out, out there in the real world, this is called Prior Restraint of Trade, and it is illegal. Much of the crap that happens in comics, in fact, would get the FTC pounding the bejezuz out of Ford or Proctor and Gamble or Apple if they pulled the same stunts. Comics, alas, are just too small to show up on the Feds' radar.