Broken Frontier

Digital Comics Unlimited is a subscription service, offering a selection of classic and recent Marvel comic titles for viewing on the Internet through a specialized flash browser. The service costs either $10 a month or $60 for a year. Viewers cannot download comics, so an active subscription and connection to the Internet are required. New comics will not appear on the site until they have been out for at least six months.

Marvel has stated that DCU has over 2,700 titles currently and is adding more each week. The flash interface of DCU is quite versatile and simulates the sensation of reading a print comic well. When you decide to open a comic, it opens a new window covering your entire screen, but this can be scaled down.

However, it works best in full screen, as the scans of the comic are beautiful. It allows you to view the comic as one or two pages or in a mode called ‘smart panels’. In this mode, the flash interface zooms in on one section of panels at a time. Hitting advance slides the page to the next sequential panel section. This is quite convenient and I breezed through several comics in smart panel mode.

For one and two page spreads, it’s easy to switch modes. The help documentation is very thorough as well. While it’s not possible to bookmark individual pages, the flash interface is more than sufficient to read entire comics.

Obviously Digital Comics Unlimited is not a replacement to a print subscription of comics. It is aimed at supplementing your library. While most of the comics are available in reprinted trade paperbacks, for someone who wants to catch up with back issues of a wide variety of titles, this is much easier on the wallet. There is unlimited reading while your subscription is active, so it’s possible to wade through the entire run of a title in a single night if you read fast enough.

Casual readers who want to get a better sense of the classics have a perfect opportunity with DCU. Their current selection includes the first runs of several classic titles such as Amazing Spider Man #1-100 and Avengers #1-50. The six month delay on new titles means that readers shouldn’t cancel subscriptions just yet. Of course, if you were one of the people who didn’t get any crossover comics for any of the recent Marvel Events, then this may be a cost-efficient way of catching up, provided you don’t mind waiting.

Comics are also sorted by fan favorite categories, such as Wolverine’s Greatest Battles, Greatest Villains, (Frank) Miller’s Milestones, and Hulk’s Incarnations. These suggested reading lists highlight some great stories. There is also a kid’s friendly section, Famous First Appearances, Origin Stories and Historic Events. Altogether, a dedicated Marvel fan receives quite a bit of bang for his buck.

However, this is not the comic version of Itunes. You don’t own any of the digital comics. You can’t read them without an Internet connection, dramatically limiting a reader’s options. Furthermore, you can’t print them. This lack of control and lack of new issues will keep DCU a niche service. No comic fan will choose to use it over getting print comics. I want to own the comics I buy, no matter if they are print or digital.

This new model is a good option for some readers, but most comic fans prefer the ownership of their favorite comics and this is a step back in that regard. Overall, this is a nice service and worth subscribing to if you are interested in Marvel’s back catalogue and dont want to buy a few dozen trade paperbacks. However, if you can’t see yourself reading the comics online for at least a few hours each month, then it’s probably not for you, except perhaps for a single month or two.

Digital Comics Unlimited is not so much as a bold online venture as a timid step out of necessity. Print comics will never disappear, but the Internet is vital to the comic industry today. The sooner comic fans can buy their favorite titles in print and online, the better.