Last year at SXSW, Marvel’s big announcement revolved around what additions they’d be bringing to the digital playing field. This year is no different, as once again Marvel has brought something to the festival to push us all into the digital future: unlimited streaming.
Marvel has had an Unlimited program for sometime now, in which fans can subscribe for $10 a month to have unlimited access to a digital Marvel library. Yet, there was never a mobile way to access it; you were on your computer, or you weren’t. Now Marvel has launched an Unlimited app in which you can stream access to Marvel’s digital library wherever you go. It’s iOS only for now, but it’s still a great start, and while it doesn’t use the same technology as Comixology uses (this uses HTML5) there’s a lot to be excited about what the mere potential of unlimited streaming comics can do. After all, we all love Spotify, right? (I’m not saying that sarcastically. Spotify is, like, my best friend.)
Look at it this way: for $10 a month, you can get access to every new comic Marvel releases in a legal “try it before you buy it” fashion. $10 a month is about 2ish books at $3.99 a pop, and given that most of us read more than that on a weekly basis (I myself bought about 30 books this week), it’ll even out really quickly.
But, the major catch is that the books in the Marvel Unlimited app aren’t their new books. No, you can’t get Bendis and Hitch’s “Age of Ultron” #1 in it. Apparently, all the books available are six months old or older. And yet, given the amount of books Marvel has in its back catalogue, it still ostensibly remains a good deal for anyone who really loves Marvel comics.
For a test video, check out Gizmodo. Otherwise get to your iOS devices and get downloading.
