Isn't this more like DC going back to the days when they published their monthly comics every month?

In months where the planned issue wasn't going to be ready they'd throw in either a reprint or an inventory story they had in a drawer for just that very purpose. Of course, back then stories didn't run for 6 months so it was less of a shock to the system when it happened.

This all surely works for rather than against the idea of a casual comics fan. I would have though that if the casual fan pops into his/her LCS once a month or so then it's in DC's interest for there to be some kind of, say, Wonder Woman comic there every month for them to casually pick up (or not).

I think I'd rather have a monthly comic every month, even if it breaks up the current story, rather than wait 2, 3, 4 months for the next issue (as long as the quality is at least in the same ballpark as the "normal" issues). And, as you say, it doesn't affect the trade either way.

Of course, everyone would be happier and the world would be a better place if they could put out their monthlies every month as originally scheduled.

Dan,

You make plenty of good points. It does harken back to the days of the inventory stories, but yeah, the six-part trend does change that up a bit. Frankly, it seems like comics are working against themselves--all stories are multi-parters now to fill up the trades, but the creators can't work fast enough for multi-parters. And I see what you mean about how this can work well for the casual fan.

And like many things, this does seem to be the long way around the easy solution: just put the comics out on time. But I remain convinced that I'd rather have slow shipping good comics than regularly shipping dribble.