It's funy that the artists who, off the top of my head, I thought of as being slow are apparently much much quicker than modern artists...

Except maybe Pacheo.  But maybe someone can prove me wrong on that one, too!

QUOTE: Why don't they ship comics to Wal-Mart and Target and other such places?  I see a million kids in there every time I'm in those places.  It's like setting up a hotdog stand at the end of a dark alley instead of a busy intersection.  Makes no sense.

Even the checkout counters at grocery stores would have been a great spot as the kids might spot them there and cajole their parents into buying them one while waiting in line.

I got hooked on my first comic as a teenager casually browsing the magazine rack of the local 7-11. I had never had the slightest interest in comics even in the moments walking up to that rack. One comic caught my eye and I found myself interested enough to pick it up and flip through it. I decided it was interesting enough to take home so I bought it. After that I kept an eye out for the next issue and bought it as well.  From there I was "bitten by the bug" so to speak.

Had comic shops been the only outlet for comics, I would likely not be posting this today because I might never have discovered comics.  How many kids would casually stroll into a comic shop by happenstance?  I didn't even know comic shops existed when I bought that first comic and it was only later when I wanted back issues of it that I ventured into a comic shop.

The really sad part of this is how many retailers blow their stack at the mere suggestion of offering comics to newsstand outlets, even though it would ultimately help their business by increasing the fan base.  Evidently these type of retailers would rather lose the wealth than consider sharing it.

At every turn, when some new opportunity was presented, the industry either ignored it, or did it wrong. And what is astonishing is that anyone with a modicum of business sense could see at the time that it was wrong. (I have something less than a modicum, but I was warning of the dangers of the Direct Sales Market -- each and every one of my fears having been realized -- almost from the moment it was a gleam in Phil Seuling's eye.)

I'm not sure if Neal Adams, George Perez, or Carlos Pacheo ever drew 12 comics in a year. 

***********************

As was pointed out already, Adams has.  Pacheco has not though.  And Perez definitely has!

For DC:  Perez drew New Teen Titans 1-4, 6-40 PLUS two Annuals.  (His missing the one issue was planned as he had another project to draw that month, IIRC, for Marvel.)  He also drew all 12 issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was never late as far as I remember.  And he also did the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman without missing an issue, all on time, as well as co-writing it!

His Marvel work was a little more erratic, but he was kept quite busy and apparently putting something out once a month.

" The issues drawn by Brown or Novick are not fill-in issues, since the book did not have a permanent creative team."

I guess you're technically right, but it seems like splitting hairs.  Julie Schwartz knew his stuff -including the fact that fans liked a consistent team on a specific feature, and if it had been possible to keep Adams on the Ra's Al Ghul stories, I'm presuming he would have. It's precisely because he couldn't that Novick and Brown are doing other parts of that story.

But it's beside the point. My point is that Superstars back then were not given the power to hold up books and a lot of artists that are now overlooked and sometimes casually dismissed were the ones who kept the fires burning when slower (or less productive ) artists who were more popular weren't available.

And a lot of us prefer those "less popular" artists who delivered so consistently.

At Wizard World Chicago one of the Marvel editors was talking about their talent search and mentioned they expected their artists to pencil a book in six weeks.

If thats true I'm suprised ANY of their books are on time!

The reason some guys get away with being consistently late is that they're "hot". Their work is popular and sells a lot when published.
You see this in other areas of entertainment as well. Some "hot" superstar actor or actress can get away with chronic (and costly) lateness and crass primadonna behaviour because their perceived worth to the show or film they're working on is greater than the cost.
The downside is that when they're no longer hot, their ability to get work is measured by punctuality, ability to work well with others and other signs of professionalism as well. So if they behave professionally when "hot" they're more likely to keep getting work when they're not.
Likewise, if you're not "hot" or hugely talented or a "good buddy" of somebody in a position to guarantee you work, Bad behaviour isn't tolerated.

Bryan Hitch may take the time to "grow roses", but if some (as percived by editorial) interchangeable Joe Staffhack says "finishing these pages in the time you're giving me is compromising my artwork. I'm going to need an extra week per issue" the companies aren't going to stand for it. I worry that this is why they have instituted the new policy. In order to push the "Joe Staffhacks" back into line and appear to the public to address their concerns while continuing to bend over backwards for the primadonnas.

This plays directly the mentality that wanted to say Sorry I don't have my homework assignment ready, teacher. I'm taking extra time with it to be sure I get it done right.   And right there is that implicit assumption that all those decades of books that came out on time, all those artists who didn't miss deadlines, were producing inferior product by definition. And it's why "professional" comics today are no more than fanzines.