Marvel Comics has delayed the final issue of the series, Civil War, pitting hero against hero over the issue of super-hero registration. Civil War outsells the second highest selling comic each month almost two to one, yet that was not enough to keep the series on track, even after other delays. It will be almost two months, February 21st Marvel says, until we will find out who wins the Civil War.

Of course, it’s not much of a question anymore. Marvel has announced so many comics for after Civil War, there is little question about who wins. But Civil War’s delays have forced creative solutions to fill Marvel’s editorial calendar and keep fans interested. This means early announcements, like a team of super-villains currently working for the pro-registration side are getting their own series.

Delays and lateness are becoming expected practices in comics today. DC Comics’ major event last year, Infinite Crisis, skipped a month of publication and used different artists to try to make release dates. Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman has had four monthly issues published since August 2005. Three issues of Wonder Woman since July 2006. And the new series, Ultimates 3, announced in the summer of 2005, is still almost a year from being released. Comic companies and fans have come to tolerate and even accept lateness from best-selling comics. Fans keep buying late books and comic companies keep hiring late writers and artists. The late culprits are well known, even notorious, among comic fans yet these late writers and artists remain popular. What other industry rewards people for such blatant disregard to any semblance of professional ethics.

Yes movies and video games see delays (PS3 anyone). But television? Weekly series rely on hundreds of people to coordinate everything from film shoots to special effects to talk show appearances and are amazingly reliable. Far more complex than the few dozen of hands needed for the monthly comic book. And the delays don’t happen far along the assembly line. Either the writer hands the script in late or the artist takes months to draw. I hate waiting months for subplot to develop, characters to grow, and stories to resolve.

This lateness isn’t happening with small press comics done as labours of love. The best-selling comics every month, from Justice League of America to Green Lantern to Ultimates. Imagine what would happen if Jack Bauer skipped a week of the non-stop season of 24. Lost spent its second season running new episodes and reruns intermittently only to find that annoyed viewers. This season, the show ran six episodes before the New Year with the rest of the season to run uninterrupted through the spring. Magazines, newspapers, even my text messaged horoscope arrive on time every day, week, and month. Comic books accepting this lack of professionalism and respect for fans could be part of why comics just don’t sell that well.