137:
which had the cover date of July would have been published two months earlier from that date in the month of May, generally speaking. In 1973 the discrepancy between the cover date and the publishing date went from two months to three months. In 1989 the cover date and publishing date discrepancy was
69:
In the United States, Canada, and the United
Kingdom, the standard practice is to display on magazine covers a date which is some weeks or months in the future from the publishing or release date. There are two reasons for this discrepancy: first, to allow magazines to continue appearing "current" to
130:
companies since the creation of the comic book in the 1930s was to date individual issues by putting the name of a month (and much later the year as well) on the cover which was generally two months after the release date. For example, a 1951 issue of
74:
even after they have been on sale for some time (since not all magazines will be sold immediately), and second, to inform newsstands when an unsold magazine can be removed from the stands and returned to the
236:
Cover dates on comics didn't match magazine dating norms, and by 1973 Marvel's cover dates made them appear newer than DC's, so DC decided to skip using May 1973 and go straight to June.
107:
In other countries, the cover date usually matches more closely the date of publication, and may indeed be identical where weekly magazines are concerned.
175:
259:
229:
110:
In all markets, it is rare for monthly magazines to indicate a particular day of the month: thus issues are dated
57:
published the afternoon before its cover date. For some publications, the cover date may not be found on the
254:
153:
opted against putting cover dates on the cover in
October 1999; instead, the "cover" date was moved to the
264:
104:) are generally dated a half month ahead, and quarterlies are generally dated two or three months ahead.
198:
24:
138:
changed back to two months, though generally each comic book company now uses its own system.
133:
154:
8:
100:
225:
88:
54:
27:
is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of
248:
150:
213:
28:
146:
127:
76:
58:
44:
142:
94:
71:
49:
40:
221:
176:"Why are magazines dated ahead of the time they actually appear?"
79:
or be destroyed (in this case, the cover date is also the
61:, but rather on an inside jacket or on an interior page.
98:) are generally dated a week ahead. Monthlies (such as
218:
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern
Mythmaking
114:, and so on, whereas weekly magazines may be dated
141:Of the two major American comic book publishers,
246:
173:
126:The general practice of most mainstream
202:. Vol. 23, no. 6. p. 67.
247:
212:
195:
145:continues to put cover dates on the
196:Head, Will (June 2000). "Letters".
39:); later cover dates are common in
13:
14:
276:
206:
189:
167:
121:
1:
160:
260:Date and time representation
64:
47:publishing. More unusually,
7:
10:
281:
174:Cecil Adams (1990-06-22).
16:Date shown on a periodical
199:Personal Computer World
25:periodical publication
157:on an interior page.
255:Magazine publishing
178:. The Straight Dope
101:National Geographic
265:Comics terminology
86:Weeklies (such as
77:publishing company
231:978-3-8365-1981-6
272:
239:
238:
210:
204:
203:
193:
187:
186:
184:
183:
171:
280:
279:
275:
274:
273:
271:
270:
269:
245:
244:
243:
242:
232:
224:. p. 516.
222:Taschen America
211:
207:
194:
190:
181:
179:
172:
168:
163:
124:
67:
55:daily newspaper
17:
12:
11:
5:
278:
268:
267:
262:
257:
241:
240:
230:
205:
188:
165:
164:
162:
159:
123:
120:
66:
63:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
277:
266:
263:
261:
258:
256:
253:
252:
250:
237:
233:
227:
223:
219:
215:
209:
201:
200:
192:
177:
170:
166:
158:
156:
152:
151:Marvel Comics
148:
144:
139:
136:
135:
129:
119:
117:
113:
108:
105:
103:
102:
97:
96:
91:
90:
84:
82:
78:
73:
62:
60:
56:
52:
51:
46:
42:
38:
34:
30:
26:
22:
235:
217:
214:Levitz, Paul
208:
197:
191:
180:. Retrieved
169:
140:
132:
125:
115:
111:
109:
106:
99:
93:
87:
85:
80:
68:
48:
37:release date
36:
33:on-sale date
32:
20:
18:
122:Comic books
116:17 May 2016
29:publication
249:Categories
182:2013-06-28
161:References
128:comic book
45:comic book
21:cover date
143:DC Comics
81:pull date
72:consumers
65:Magazines
216:(2010).
134:Superman
112:May 2016
95:Newsweek
50:Le Monde
41:magazine
155:indicia
228:
147:cover
59:cover
53:is a
43:and
31:(the
23:of a
226:ISBN
92:and
89:Time
19:The
83:).
35:or
251::
234:.
220:.
149:.
118:.
185:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.