Which date would you use when searching for comics? Publication Vs Cover.

[TheDragonKing]

Whenever you're looking for comics, what date would you rather use? The publication date or the cover date? And which is more important?

[Lee Stone]

If you're going to collect comics from multiple companies, you'll want to go by publishing date, as one may be a month ahead or behind of the other on cover dates.
Also, some specials and annuals just get the year on the cover, which gives you only a rough idea of when it came out.
But knowing what the publication date was helps you pinpoint where it fits with other issues featuring the same characters, or maybe it has threads from an ongoing story.

For example, the JLA Annual that introduced JLDetroit obviously came out before their first regular issue in the main book.
The last part of Judas Contract happened in an Annual, and it's not hard to see where it goes.

Amethyst, Arion and Atari Force had specials that acted as wrap-ups for their ongoing titles, so they come last.

But stuff like Legends, Millennium and Zero Hour, it really helps to pay attention to the publication dates, as a lot of the stuff was happening in a set order each month.

Also, for nostalgia purposes, knowing the publication dates will help you remember what you were buying or reading at a specific time.

Mike's Amazing World of Comics lists both the cover dates and the publication dates for all comics, and has a search feature where you can search by either and see what all came out during a specific month, either by cover date or publication date.

[Jim Kelly]

What do you mean by publication date? I use both on sale dates and cover dates. When searching for stuff online, the resources aren't always going to have the on sale date, but they will have the cover date (more often) so using that as a search term will likely produce better results.

Publication date could mean something else than the on sale date--such as the copyright date that was filed with the Library of Congress. According to Mike's Amazing World--the copyright date for ACTION COMICS No. 1 is April 18, 1938; the on sale date is May 3, 1938; and the cover date is June 1938.

When I search for stuff on Mike's Newsstand, I use "On Sale In" rather than "Cover Dated."

To me the on sale date is more important, because that's when it was actually available to read (in the New York City area, at least). Library of Congress and cover dates are misleading--because they are either too early or too late. Cover dates can be wildly off. You can have cover dates that are as much as a full year out of sync with when the comic came out.

Still when I reference stuff on this message board, I try to give the title, issue number and cover date. I don't bother with the on sale date unless it's significant to what I'm posting as it seems like people here want to know the cover date.

[Lee Stone]

What do you mean by publication date? I use both on sale dates and cover dates. When searching for stuff online, the resources aren't always going to have the on sale date, but they will have the cover date (more often) so using that as a search term will likely produce better results.

Publication date could mean something else than the on sale date--such as the copyright date that was filed with the Library of Congress. According to Mike's Amazing World--the copyright date for ACTION COMICS No. 1 is April 18, 1938; the on sale date is May 3, 1938; and the cover date is June 1938.

When I search for stuff on Mike's Newsstand, I use "On Sale In" rather than "Cover Dated."

To me the on sale date is more important, because that's when it was actually available to read (in the New York City area, at least). Library of Congress and cover dates are misleading--because they are either too early or too late. Cover dates can be wildly off. You can have cover dates that are as much as a full year out of sync with when the comic came out.

Still when I reference stuff on this message board, I try to give the title, issue number and cover date. I don't bother with the on sale date unless it's significant to what I'm posting as it seems like people here want to know the cover date.

I assumed the OP meant 'on sale date' with 'publication date'.

[Restingvoice]

Whenever you're looking for comics, what date would you rather use? The publication date or the cover date? And which is more important?

They're different? Why are they different?

Publication date could mean something else than the on sale date--such as the copyright date that was filed with the Library of Congress. According to Mike's Amazing World--the copyright date for ACTION COMICS No. 1 is April 18, 1938; the on sale date is May 3, 1938; and the cover date is June 1938.

Oh. That's... annoying.

Now I don't know what to use.

So far I just use the date in Comixology description, and if they don't have them, I look at the date written on the cover.

So... Release Date first. Failing that, Cover Date.

[Jim Kelly]

I assumed the OP meant 'on sale date' with 'publication date'.

Thing is I've seen some sites that use the Library of Congress date as if it were the on sale date. Every year, people post Happy Birthday to Superman in April, because they're going by the Library of Congress date.

For older comics, the date that the comic went on sale at newsstands in New York is not easy to determine--and it's just an educated guess. Whereas, the Library of Congress date is definite--if it's registered there, it can be found and you can be sure that's the date they have.

You have three dates that each are not always known. You might not be able to find a date for a comic at the Library of Congress (it wasn't registered), you might not be able to pin down the on sale date, you might find that the comic went without a cover date. The so-called first issue of SUPERMAN in 1939 went on sale three times in that year and it has no issue No. 1 on it nor any cover date.

If a comic has Winter 1940 on the cover, when did it come out? It could either be it came out around December 1939/January 1940 or around December 1940/January 1941.

[Jim Kelly]

They're different? Why are they different?

They're different because publishers discovered if they put a much later date on the cover, retailers wouldn't pull the comic from the stands until it had gone over that date (like an expiration date). So publishers started putting later and later dates on their covers to get them to stick around longer.

On bi-monthlies, National Periodicals used to have in the indicia a date like May-June 1971--but this comic was actually on sale at the same time as most May 1971 issues (probably March)--however on the cover, in a rectangle, they would put [June]--opting for the laterst date on the cover.

[Restingvoice]

They're different because publishers discovered if they put a much later date on the cover, retailers wouldn't pull the comic from the stands until it had gone over that date (like an expiration date). So publishers started putting later and later dates on their covers to get them to stick around longer.

On bi-monthlies, National Periodicals used to have in the indicia a date like May-June 1971--but this comic was actually on sale at the same time as most May 1971 issues (probably March)--however on the cover, in a rectangle, they would put [June]--opting for the laterst date on the cover.

Okay then I'll go with Release Date

[Jim Kelly]

To be fair to the publishers, comics didn't arrive everywhere in North America at the same time. In Canada, during the 1960s and 1970s, the comics were always at least a month late (more like two months)--so the cover date was pretty accurate for me. The on sale date is a best case scenario--which is why I say it works for New York City, the home office of most publishers. But at Gomer Pyle's gas station in Mayberry, North Carolina, they seemed to get their comic books way late .

[etrumble]

There are clearly hard core collectors answering this question.

I always use the cover date. It is on the publication, doesn't require an Internet search to get the exact date(and then trusting a source other than the actual item(floppy, collected edition, etc)).

I want an easily confirmed piece of data that is consistent and verifiable.