system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are comic books published date set in a future date?

I have been collecting comic books for a while now and this has always bothered me. As an example, I just bought DC's Earth Two #0 that came out today. The bar code has a date of Nov 2012, and it says 'Earth 2 0. November 2012.' inside the book, which will be interpreted by people who aren't into comics that this particular comic came out in November 2012 which isn't the case. Marvel does the same thing as well as other smaller publishers like IDW and Dark Horse.
gpt
The date on the cover isn't actually when the comics come out. Instead, the date signifies when newsstand owners / store clerks should remove them from the shelves!

It's sort of an outdated practice, as most comic stores just put them in a box somewhere, but there you go.