[Resolved] Date Comparison Problems

[The Hobo]

I'm having a problem comparing dates. I've tried the following two:

//tried this:
if ($comic['released'] <= date('Y-m-d')) {
    $date = "Now!";
} else {
    $date = date('F jS, Y', strtotime($comic['release'])) . ".";
}

//and this:
if (date('Y-m-d', strtotime($comic['released'])) <= date('Y-m-d')) {
    $date = "Now!";
} else {
    $date = date('F jS, Y', strtotime($comic['release'])) . ".";
}

$comic['released'] is a date format in MySQL.

No matter what, it always prints "Now!"

Where am I going wrong?