Any one who collected comic books back in the 1970s and 1980s (or before) knows that the cover dates for comics were several months ahead of the actual release date – for example, the “January 1978” issue would be available on the news-stand in the Fall of 1977. My question is – how many months ahead would it be? I’m thinking it was at least three months, maybe even four. But I am not absolutely certain.
Also, when did this practice stop? I’m thinking around 1987 or 1988, but, once again, I am not sure.
It was consistently three months back then, at least for monthly comics. A cover dated May 1981 would be on the stands in February 1981.
And it hasn’t stopped, although it seems it’s down to two months now. The copies of Shade # 8 and Legion of Super-Heroes # 9 that I just bought yesterday (5/16/2012) have a cover date of July 2012.
Marvel’s down to one month nowadays, I believe, although they don’t print their months on the cover anymore (unless they’ve brought it back recently). DC is at two. I remember when Marvel went from three to two in the very early '90’s, I’d say.
One issue is that shipping schedules aren’t as well maintained as they were in the '80’s (although much better than they were in various periods from the mid-'90’s to the early Aughts), so any given comic you pick up might not have the “right” month for when it comes out.
In the 1960s, Marvel was about four months ahead, and DC about two. I remember going to the store to pick up the latest Marvel books on the last day of school (early June in those days), and remarking to my friend, “Here we’re just getting out, and the comics are already dated for back-to-school,” because of their September cover dates.
This is specifically about Transformers comics, but since that series was running at the time Marvel started shifting to closer cover dates to the actual month, it’s a good point of reference.