#1

The on-sale date is from the publication date recorded in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, 1941, New Series, Vol. 36, No. 3. A house ad in Human Torch #5[a], a copy of which is at http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics153.html , lists an on-sale date of July 10. This ad shows a different cover in which Joseph Stalin is one of the villains, teamed with Hitler, Mussolini, and the Red Skull. The invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Germany in June 1941 made Stalin one of the Allies and that cover was therefore inappropriate. Perhaps that resulted in a publication delay.