Marvel Digital Unlimited

[Felon]

I'm okay with it, so long as they are open about it.

That was one welcome addition.

Another was providing a "cancel account" option that didn't involve emailing Marvel to find out how to go about it.

Alas, the perils of early adoption.

I too tried this out when it first opened up, and I thought it was very cool too. Then I realized with the intentional omission of key issues, that this wasn't a transition to digital comics, but a marketing ploy to buy paperbacks or hardcovers.

So i quit.

They've cleaned up their act somewhat.

I AM looking forward to Apple's announcement next week about their tablet and other companies, like Longbox, to give us true digital comics, and not offerings that are years out of date, or just a few independent publishers.

I guess I don't get the "years-out-of-date" comment myself. Heck, I want more access to 1980's titles.

 

[ToddSchumacher]

Ok, I think I need to clarify my "out-of-date" Comment.

And, yes, out-of-date does not mean 'bad' when not taken with the context I'll describe below. Not by itself.

I used to be huge into comics, from about mid 1980s to the late 1990s, comics were my whole world. I went to college to get better at art...I wanted to draw comics. Somewhere along the way I dropped out, the issues were getting expensive, I didn't have the room to store them, the stories were getting repetitive. I lost interest.

A number of years ago, I found this new medium called podcasts. And I've been listening to a few comic book ones since, mostly iFanboy and Comic Geek Speak. And by listening to these podcasts, I've been able to catch-up and 'keep up' with the major stories in comics. Getting a trade now and then based on what I'm hearing.

I'm at a point where I want to read these stories, but I'm not interested in collecting a warehouse of paper. I'm waiting for a good digital method of gathering and reading these stories. And for me (This is me clarifying the 'out-of-date' bit) being able to be part of the 'conversation' of these podcasts who talk about the comics - the comics of this weeks releases - without resorting to piracy.

Having a back-catalog of issues is super-awesome, and any digital distribution method needs to have them, but that's only half of the marketplace. Well maybe 7/8ths. Once DC, Marvel, and others start releasing their comics digitally day-and-date with their print versions, in a method that's easy to use, and easy to get at, I think they would start seeing a real boost to their numbers. And I think we're poised to see that when Apple announces their Tablet, and companies like Longbox, or even the comics companies, take advantage of the platform.

I admit, it has been a number of years since I tried marvel's digital offerings, and if they have filled in the holes of the issues and it's not just a marketing ploy to sell hardcovers, it may be time to revisit the site again.

But I have to ask the question, how old are their 'new' releases?

 

[Umbran]

But I have to ask the question, how old are their 'new' releases?

Just picking a couple of titles at random (Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men) the digital titles seem to be 12 issues behind the print versions. I think those are monthly titles, so about 1 year behind.