As the digital comics marketplace has become a bigger and bigger part of the way we all read our favourite books, publishers have been working to make accessing the latest print releases through digital subscriptions easier than ever. But Marvel, already a pretty strong supporter with its Unlimited sub, just made it even better.
Unlimited has always been a pretty great comics subscription prospect — despite the fact that, beyond access to Marvel Comics’ back catalogue, readers had to wait six months before current books on store shelves would rotate into Unlimited’s library. That’s the standard that, when DC Universe transitions to a comics-only service and goes international in 2021, it will adopt as DC Universe Infinite (itself down from Universe’s current 12-month cycle). But today, Marvel announced that it’s slashing the turnaround between comic stores and Unlimited in half.
???? Access comics on @MarvelUnlimited just three months after they’re in stores!
???????? Starting today, read your favorite stories even sooner, including new issues of “Avengers,” “X-Men,” and mega-cosmic event “Empyre”: https://t.co/BtjK6WvFAZ pic.twitter.com/femHsUUtel
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 19, 2020
As of today, Unlimited subscribers — with no cost changes to their $99-a-year subscription — will now only wait three months before new titles are rolled into the service. It means that readers now, as of today, have access to new titles Marvel began releasing when books started hitting shelves again amid the covid-19 pandemic, getting the chance to see the opening of the pretty good (and wonderfully queer) cosmic summer event Empyre.
It might not be up there with more niche services like Archie’s recent partnership with Comixology Unlimited (if anything, these apps need to think of better names, it’s like the plus all over again) or Weekly Shonen Jump, which offer day-and-date access with new releases as part of their subscription plans. But it’s a big step for a publisher like Marvel to take, and shows just how important these sorts of services are becoming to the industry in general.