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How to Find the Date of a Comic Book

The first comic book sold in the United States landed on newsstands in 1932. The comic book, essentially a magazine composed of sequential artwork that tells a story through a marriage of pictures and dialogue, rose to heights of popularity in the post WW-II era that saw print runs far exceeding a million copies per issue. In modern times, the average comic sells in the thousands of copies, with a rare few exceeding the 100,000 mark. Older comics are often worth more than cover price, based on the content, creative team and rarity. The publication date factors heavily in the books value.

Things You'll Need

  • Comic book
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Instructions

    • 1

      Lay the comic book on a flat surface. Open the comic book to the first page.

    • 2

      Look at the bottom of the inside front cover (IFC) and locate the publishing indicia, affectionately referred to as "legal mumbo jumbo," which lists the copyright and any legal disclaimers. In rare cases, the indicia is on the first page, or near the back of the comic, however, the convention is to place it at the bottom of the IFC.

    • 3

      Note the publishing date, listed in the indicia; this denotes the publication date of this particular issue. The publishing date often accompanies the print run information - which lets you discern if this is a first, second or third printing -- and determines the value of the book, as only first printings usually carry any value over and above cover price.

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