This is a little pedantic, but as I’m aware there’s conflicting data about release dates for many of these comics, I just want to explain my sourcing.
I’m mostly using the release dates on League of Comic Geeks as my point of reference. They’re quite comprehensive and when I’ve checked some against dates I specifically remember or can independently verify, they’re usually rather accurate. Every now and then I have come across a date on there that’s wildly off, though.
My secondary reference is Mike’s Amazing World of Comics. Those dates broadly often agree with the first year of Post-Crisis data I found on LOCG… with a few notable exceptions. In the overwhelming majority of instances where the two sites don’t agree, Mike’s data puts the release three weeks later.
Forty years ago, newsstand distribution was still a strong source of income for the comic book industry. Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Borders… pretty much all of them had either a spinner rack or a shelf of comics. You’d find them in many drug stores and grocery stores too. You can tell the difference between a direct market copy and a newsstand copy because the UPC box on a newsstand copy has an actual UPC, while the direct market version usually would have a logo or promotional copy.
You can see the difference below.
So if you happen across dates that disagree by several weeks with the ones I’m using, this is probably the reason.
There were a couple times where I was able to use the newsstand release to my advantage. In 1992, the early issues of the DOOMSDAY storyline sold out within hours at my comic shop. At the time, I didn’t have a pull account there because it seemed silly to have a pull for the Superman titles when they always had extra copies on hand. The very next day, I had my parents take me to the nearby B. Dalton, where I put in a request for all issues of that storyline. While the stores were running out of copies and people were scalping them at a big markup, I filled in the gaps and got extra copies via newsstand distribution.
I’m also making an additional correction to the recorded dates. Back then, New Comic Book Day was Thursday in most markets. During the Summer of 1992, it moved up to Wednesday. But when I’ve checked most of these dates against a 1986 calendar, I’ve found they almost always are on Tuesday.
So to conform with New Comic Book Day as it existed then, I’m using the Thursday of release week as my release date of record.
I hope this clears up any potential confusion.
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