John - could not agree with you more.

A question you might know the answer to - another part of the issue is that publishers announce projects very early.  It's fine to say "Artist XYZ is working on a Batman-Wolverine crossover."  It's another to say "it's a three issue monthly series that will start in September 2009," and then the first issue comes out in September, the second in January, and the third in May.

Why do you think publishers and editors announce books without doing some "padding"?  Why are they not comfortable getting several issues "in the can" before announcing a publication date?

"Fantastic Four, for example, has been shipping late of late, because of illness and bereavement from both the writer and the penciller. That's something an editor can't really plan for, and I'd hope nobody would complain about this sort of situation."

I hope I don't come off as an insensitive asshole for this, but an editor can (and should) plan for this, and consumers have every right to complain if this sort of situation leads to a comic being late. Why it happens doesn't even really enter into it.

First of all, there should be enough lead time to cover regular illness (which will be a few days to maybe 2 weeks, unless it's an injury that makes it impossible to work).  Anything beyond a few weeks, an editor should replace that person until he or she is ready to resume work.

And  bereavement can be very hard to deal with, but unless you have such a severe depressive reaction that you qualify for a medical leave, you should be back to work in a week or two at the most. Some people are back to work the next day and only take as much time off as are needed for the funeral and arranging the funeral.

In the real world, if illness or a bereavement takes you away from the job, your employer finds someone who can take over for you. And in most cases, a week or so is all that anybody needs. Not to recover fully, but to recover enough to get back to work.

As long as the fanboys put up with it, it will never stop.

This is why I buy 99% of my comics at flea markets, garage sales and estate sales.  The only new comics I buy are from "Guess Who..."

Erik,

The 90's were 99% crap. This is not all McFarlane's fault, but he did contribute because his writing skills took a back seat to his ego.  You were the only one who put out quality product in those early years (and still do).

The blame lies with The Toddster, Bill Jemas, The Death of Superman, Bane, the speculators, Gareb Shamus, ad infinitum.

Image is a good publisher today.  15 years ago, it was not.