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Strange Tales Annual 1
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Does anyone know when this came out in relation to Strange Tales 101?  101 is the first  of the Super-Hero era as Jhonny Storm launches his solo career and   has a cover date of October 1962 which means in most likely came out in August ,give or take a few weeks.   The Annual just says 1962, but I think Annuals usually came out in the summer.  

Strange Tales Annual #2 says 1963, but I've seen date stamps from July and August so I'm guessing it was released in late July.

It's jjust book keeping but I'm trying to decide if ST Annual #1 is a pre-hero Marvel or the first reprint book of the Marvel Super-Hero Era.  

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Mike's Comic Newsstand has Strange Tales Annual #1 on sale July 3rd, 1962:

STA1.PNG.4fc0a9db3c3a8190800f9534f50e0cec.PNG

 

For Strange Tales #101, Mike's has July 10th as the on sale date, one week later:

ST101.PNG.853bb806c67586834a45a76242c1e38a.PNG

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On 3/5/2022 at 12:57 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Mike's Comic Newsstand has Strange Tales Annual #1 on sale July 3rd, 1962:

STA1.PNG.4fc0a9db3c3a8190800f9534f50e0cec.PNG

 

For Strange Tales #101, Mike's has July 10th as the on sale date, one week later:

ST101.PNG.853bb806c67586834a45a76242c1e38a.PNG

This, to me, brings up the question as to the definition of "On sale date".  What does that term really mean?

Does it mean the date on which the distributor started shipping copies?  The books can't be sold if they're in transit on a plane or in the back of a truck.

As you can see above, we've got multiple copies with different "arrival dates" on them.  In this case one would assume that the arrival date at Jack's Corner Store in Anytown, North America would have been that particular store's "On sale date".  Of course, if Jack's store is in a small town in Ontario, it would likely take longer for copies to reach it than it would to a corner store in Staten Island.  

If one says that the definition of "On sale date" was the date on which the book arrived at a particular location for initial sale, then the "On sale date" could never be a specific date but rather  a range of dates.  

In the case of STA #1, the accepted "On sale date" is July 3, 1962.  What makes that so?

Edited by pemart1966
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On 3/6/2022 at 3:39 PM, pemart1966 said:

This, to me, brings up the question as to the definition of "On sale date".  What does that term really mean?

Does it mean the date on which the distributor started shipping copies?  The books can't be sold if they're in transit on a plane or in the back of a truck.

As you can see above, we've got multiple copies with different "arrival dates" on them.  In this case one would assume that the arrival date at Jack's Corner Store in Anytown, North America would have been that particular store's "On sale date".  Of course, if Jack's store is in a small town in Ontario, it would likely take longer for copies to reach it than it would to a corner store in Staten Island.  

If one says that the definition of "On sale date" was the date on which the book arrived at a particular location for initial sale, then the "On sale date" could never be a specific date but rather  a range of dates.  

In the case of STA #1, the accepted "On sale date" is July 3, 1962.  What makes that so?

Those Library of Congress copyright dates are a handy indication, but all too often I see significantly different dates stamped on the actual comics themselves. I don't think there is a definitive answer myself, and it likely varied by location. The USA is a big place as you say, so would a book in a location close to the printers go on sale earlier than one that had to travel to the other side of the country? I don't know. All I know is that Mike's Comic Newsstand - a great reference site in many ways - has a set of dates as described above, and the comics themselves sometimes have different dates. In my research, I tend to trust what the actual comics themselves tell me. If, say, I see five different copies of the same issue all with roughly the same cover date stamped on them (and in different ways, suggesting multiple locations / actions), then I lean towards that being the approximate date that the comic went on sale. Others may know better. 

The comics in the examples I posted earlier tell me that one book was out in June, the other July. That's the order I would record them in the absence of someone posting compelling evidence to the contrary.

Thanks for responding by the way, Pemart. 

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Here's one more example.

If someone asked you "When was Charlton's Konga #1 on sale in the US?" you would probably have no idea.

If you went to Mike's Comic Newsstand, the 'on sale' date would be the 1st of April, based on a June 1960 cover date:

MCN.PNG.385848095266153cf82989e08a61cff1.PNG

The GCD has a June 1961 cover date:

GCD.thumb.PNG.eca078ba893e162e481f5523b513a13d.PNG

Big difference.

The book is actually undated, save for a 1960 indicia.

Here are three dates found on the comics themselves:

1150899898_14thNovember.jpg.b74197722f069659663a4ffa97058e0e.jpg 1180732246_15thNovember.jpg.0759944da0dbd438a567fb5c36085626.jpg 1115708677_17thNovember.jpg.b1101fac675b5bb3f7ab3921debe443a.jpg

November 14th, 15th and 17th. One pencil, two in different inks, suggesting three different locations. 

If you match those mid-November cover stamps to other Charlton titles with the same cover dates stamped, you find that they match February 1961 cover dated books. That makes much more sense, as books often had a three month gap between cover date and being on sale.

So the comics tell you the story, and both the GCD and MCN are miles out, on this occasion. 

Always trust the comics. 

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I see it as at least four dates in play.  There's the official release or on-sale date, here July 3, which sometimes coincided with he actual date a particular book was offered for sale (becase it varied by newsstand/location for whatever reason).  That is why it is particularly cool (for me, at least) when a date stamp matches the official release date, as intended by the publisher.  And then there's the cover date, which is something else:  the date by which the books ideally would have sold before the next issue came out, like a "fresh-through" date about three months later.  Finally, there's the date the book joins my PC, at which point it becomes priceless. :nyah:  But if my PC becomes distinguished enough, then a fifth date would be when it leaves my PC and becomes designated part of a pedigree (mine!). 

Edited by Pantodude
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