It used to be a joke, “As long as you keep buying late books, we’ll keep making ’em.” It’s not a joke anymore: you stopped buying ’em. We need to get our schedule under control.
— Dan Didio at DC Nation, C2E2 (as reported by CBR).
Speed Force
Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive
I read that comment and thought “What a slap in the face of the fans.” Personally, I don’t care if a book is late, as long as when it comes out it’s of good quality (for example, I am loving The Flash and Batman, Inc. right now and enjoy them no matter when they come out). But I understand that there are a lot of fans out there who want a consistent schedule for their favourite books, and in my opinion this joke about “as long as you keep buying late books, we’ll keep making ’em” (in the context of reading it on a website; I wasn’t there to hear it) just seems to make light of and poke fun at their legitimate complaints. I thought DiDio had more class than that. I also think the joke should be on DC, for soliciting certain books by certain creative teams as monthlies when they (and we) know darn well that that writer or artist can’t meet a monthly deadline. This happens way too often with them when it comes to certain creators. Of course, we as the readers should also realize that we should expect delays with these creators and not be surprised when it happens. But, up until now at least, the editors or whomever never seemed bring any pressure to bear when someone fell behind; , there never seemed to be any repercussions or consequences for the creator for consistently falling behind schedule.
The only blame i put on the reader is when he or she buys the series, no matter how late or how bad. I disagree with blaming the user for expecting more of creators with poor scheduling reps. I won’t encourage cynicism…in this case.
For me, a super late book is the real slap in the face. Months and even years between issues smelled a little too much like disrespect, to me. That said, I understand and have even given into the temptation to see how the story actually, FINALLY ends.
But, again, we always vote – even through apathy. Not caring (enough) that a series is very late is contagious. Readers are the carriers…and we’ve been passing it to publishers, creators and each other for a long time.
I hope publishers really are getting on the ball.
Better late than never, am I right? 😀
Seriously though, it’s not just comics, but nowadays it often happens that movies, series, games, etc.. get released later than expected. And it shouldn’t be considered a problem. It means they’ve been working extra-hard on not releasing something too early!
At least it’s not a rushed product.
And, heck, did Barry ever arrive on time for work or a date with Iris?