Vegas021 Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Hopefully my first post doesn't come off making me look entirely dumb but I've got a question regarding the Issue Date on the CGC labels. I was under the impression that the issue date on the label should correspond to the date that the comic was originally distributed for sale. For example, take Miles Morales Spider-man #28. The issue was released on 07/21/2021. However, when I look at the CGC Census, it indicates that it was issued in 09/21. This also seems to match the date listed on the label (see example below). I then thought maybe I had it wrong that the label date was simply when CGC got around to actually grading it, but that doesn't align with order slabs I've looked that. Can someone clear this up for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazyboy Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 This again? https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/451828-cgc-label-error https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/436253-date-on-cgc-slab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 (edited) CGC lists the date of publication according to the publisher. A book will generally have a publication date 2-3 months after it's actual distribution date. This practice dates back to the 1930s and was an attempt to keep things on the shelf longer. When the direct market started, books were generally in comic shops two weeks before they appeared on newsstands. Before long, speeding up Direct distribution made the gap three weeks. Not every publisher uses this method so the easiest thing to do to print the publishers Month of publication, not the real one or date first distributed. Edited September 20, 2021 by shadroch TacosTacosTacosTacos, jokiing and Vegas021 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas021 Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 I tried doing a search, but came up empty on here. Figured I hadn't discovered something new but was curious nonetheless. I appreciate all the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/20/2021 at 4:18 PM, TacosTacosTacosTacos said: ...like Shadroch said the date on the cover is usually 2-3 months ahead of on sale date. Do we know if there is a reason for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaard Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 10:42 AM, TacosTacosTacosTacos said: They hoped you'd leave the comics on the racks at least until the cover date. It must work big time if it's lasted all this time, not to mention every single publisher does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) On 9/21/2021 at 9:45 AM, Gaard said: It must work big time if it's lasted all this time, not to mention every single publisher does it. What choice do they have? If last months mag came out August 15th and had a cover date of December, this months mag can't be October, can it? A better question would be why comics have any month on the cover. Edited September 21, 2021 by shadroch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djzombi Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 2:03 PM, shadroch said: What choice do they have? If last months mag came out August 15th and had a cover date of December, this months mag can't be October, can it? A better question would be why comics have any month on the cover. Well, if I recall correctly, comics at one point went from 3-month advance dating to 2-month dating, so "compression" happened somehow at some point. Marvel hasn't had their dates on their covers for a while, and DC may have just recently (as in, the past year) removed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
