Potentially stupid question, asking anyway.

[Mr. Spider-Woman]

Captain America #28 arrived today and, after reading through it and very much enjoying the art (and the story) I looked at the firsr page to see who was doing all the drawing and inking and coloring and such. And then I noticed that the date given in the indicia was September 2007. Now, recall if you will that today is July 19th, 2007.

 

This once again brought up the nagging question that has plagued my entire comic buying career: What is with the date listed in my comics always being two months ahead of the date I recieve them? Somebody, please, enlighten me. I beseech you.

[seank]

From what I recall:

 

Comics are post-dated because back in the old newstand days, they were competing for shelf space not only with many other comics, but magazines, pulps, and other periodicals. There was a thought that if the month on the comic matched or predated the actual month, the newsdealer would be less inclined to remove the comic to make space for something else.

[MedicAR]

From what I recall:

 

Comics are post-dated because back in the old newstand days, they were competing for shelf space not only with many other comics, but magazines, pulps, and other periodicals. There was a thought that if the month on the comic matched or predated the actual month, the newsdealer would be less inclined to remove the comic to make space for something else.

 

I've never heard any explanation for it, but this makes sense in a very 1930's kinda way.

 

Thanks for the info! (thumbs u

[Ares]

Captain America #28 arrived today and, after reading through it and very much enjoying the art (and the story) I looked at the firsr page to see who was doing all the drawing and inking and coloring and such. And then I noticed that the date given in the indicia was September 2007. Now, recall if you will that today is July 19th, 2007.

 

This once again brought up the nagging question that has plagued my entire comic buying career: What is with the date listed in my comics always being two months ahead of the date I recieve them? Somebody, please, enlighten me. I beseech you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cover_date

Periodical cover date

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Periodical cover date refers to the date displayed on the covers of magazines. However, this is not necessarily the true date of publication.

 

In the USA and Canada, the standard practice is to display on magazine covers a date which is some weeks or months in the future from the actual publishing/release date. The reason for this apparent discrepancy is to inform newsstands when an unsold magazine can be removed from the stands and returned to the publisher or be destroyed. Weeklies (such as Time (magazine) and Newsweek) are generally dated a week ahead. Monthlies (such as National Geographic Magazine) are generally dated a month ahead, and quarterlies are generally dated three months ahead.

 

In the UK and most countries, the cover date usually matches more closely the date of publication, and may indeed be identical where weekly magazines are concerned.

 

In both markets, it is rare for monthly magazines to indicate a particular day of the month: thus issues are dated May 2005, and so on, whereas weekly magazines may be dated 17 May 2005.

 

The rare exception to the rule was the now-defunct "History Today" magazine, which was actually dated three months behind.

 

[mica]

Actually here in Missouri it's already September. Check your local listings to see which month it is in your neck of the woods.

 

And don't worry about asking a potential stupid question. Every now and then greggy asks me who I think I am.... I tell him, but he must forget continually.

[Scrooge]

The question has been answered but the simplest way to put it is that the date on the cover is the "pull date", i.e., the date to pull it out of the newsstands.