Can you imagine how messed up other industries would be if they let scheduling slide the way the comic publishers do? When a record company says their new album will be in stores on the 10th of a given month, you can bet its there. Same with the video game market and T.V. shows. What if a million or so people had lined up for Spiderman 3, only to be told it wasn't out yet, come back in a week or two? They keep using the old chestnut that quality takes time, but I' m sure with all the exclusive contracts that have been signed lately, the situation has only worsened. This seems to tell me these creators are so sure of their jobs they don't feel the need to produce to any kind of realistic schedule.
Somehow we need to let them know they are playing with peoples livelihoods out here in the real world.