Ganges, contemplative fiction and books from the future

I just re-read my copy of Ganges #1, a large format comic by Kevin Huizenga, who does seriously great work. The unlike most comics which focus on what a character does, whether it's a date or a treasure hut, this whole issue is all about the internal action. Our Hero, Glenn Ganges, walks to the library, sees a litterer on the way home, then spends an evening at home reading and drinking coffee while his wife Wendy does work on the computer. The climax of the book is Glenn lying awake in bed, watching Wendy sleep. That's it! Glenn doesn't make any big, life-changing decisions -- he hardly makes any decisions at all besides getting up to get more coffee, etc. -- but he certainly ponders about a lot. Spiritual, the scientific and speculative discourses are explored in depth, and in a way that makes these three forms of thinking seem like nearly the same thing.
The comic works because Huizenga's diagram-clear style allows him to present all sorts of metaphysical musings and formal experimentation with a cheeky, steady confidence. Also, it's funny and heartfelt.
As a person with an active life that seems to speed further, farther and deeper than "real life" can possibly express or accommodate, I found a lot of comfort in Huizenga's "contemplative fiction," which recognizes how much of life is made up of thinking about time, eternity, song lyrics, library books and imagined futures.
I met Huizenga at Comic Con and got to tell him how much I appreciated that the comic was about normal life and things that happen to people all the time. He said he wasn't sure if many people ever have a day like the one in the comic. He was very nice, and soft-spoken like his characters seem to be, but I keep wondering what he meant by that.
Anyway, here's another mystery. I've had this comic since May I guess, but look at the publication date:


It came from the future!! That's probably a common publishing thing. News-stand comics usually have a cover date for the month after they are published, for example. But still, I always thought the publication date would be the actual month the book was published. Can anyone clear this up?