I can see where you are coming from Brian.  Comic books, for many of us, are a periodical and should come out, oh I don't know, periodically.  But many others have gone from looking at them just as a comic book and instead as art.  For some it is sequenced art that tells a story. I think that does help to drive the mentality.  They think they are buying a Picasso and would rather wait an extra month past the due date than have the gallery substitute a Harry Bahlz so that it could be on time.

Personally, I miss the days when comics were just comics.  I do admit that I don't let a late book affect my own buying habits though, because I don't buy my comics "on time".  I have no clue if a comic I am buying came ut on time or not.

I understand that sometimes deadlines aren't going to be met . It's unavoidable,
No matter what anyone says. No matter how good some artists are at keeping deadlines . Sometimes other artist miss them.
However that being said artist should be held accountable. Fans should keep things in perspective thou. There are other things more important in life then drawing comics.
(Not meeting a deadline because the artist can't stop playing Xbox isn't a good reason)
Artist should be honest about their limitations ,editors should hold the artists accountable. But they should handle  the sitituation  not by allowing it to happen repeatedly for now good reason.
As an editor if you know your team can't meet a monthly deadline then you give him a bi monthly or quarterly. If it happens that your artist misses a deadline for a valid reason then having fillin stories handy is a smart thing . It keeps the fans happy it keeps the money men happy.
In a perfect world there would be time enough for everything. But we don't live in perfect and sadliy too many freelancers don't have a professional attitude towards their own work.
Hit them in the pay check for missing a deadline without a good reason. They will learn to be more professional.

Artist who constantly miss deadlines listen to those who came before you. Set your own deadline a fuck up deadline that is ahead of the companies deadline.

I would only agree that comic books could be treated like books when they are a complete story. Not a 22 page one of twelve. Put out a complete story as one collection and you can decide when you want to release it. But when you allow your comics to be incomplete stories from issue to issue it lends itself to the periodical format.

If "fans" didn't buy comics like crack addicts which they do now the industry would collapse and those hot artists wouldn't be allowed to float about... The onus is on the crack addict mentallity of buying 30 titles amonth when 95% of the stuff being produced is total shite!

The hype of a Miller or Jim Lee is the only thing keeping the sinking ship afloat...and both are producing work that is so sub-par as to be embarassing...

Hype and Events are all that is left....and the industry will go down with these things still in full force like the last drunk at a party that is long over...still reveling and cheering and blowing his streamer....thinking everyone is going to come back..

DC will produce Crisis after Crisis and M***** will produce House of M's or whatevers and they will be scooped up like chum in a river bed of piranha

What the industry seems to forget it's the characters that are make the focal point not the talent, long after the talent has left the business the characters remains. M***L needs to fire those who can't keep deadlines and hire those who can. As many people who want to break into the business, there is always the next big talent coming over the horizon.