Comixology is offering an “unlimited” $6 subscription service

Comic books aren’t exactly cheap these days, nor are they what I’d consider a prudent investment either. But what they are, is printed passion. There’s a lot of love out there for the medium still, that drives sales and lays the groundwork for bigger multimedia properties. It’s also home to some fantastic stories, art and events that exist across multiple publishers and series.

And like I said, it’s not cheap keep tracking of all that. Which is where Comixology is coming into play. The digital distributor of numerous comic books has just announced a new deal. Called Comixology Unlimited, the service will offer a massive back-catalogue of comic books from Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom! and more for a flat fee of $6/R93 a month. No Marvel or DC, but Marvel already has their own service in the form of Marvel Unlimited and DC…Well DC needs to keep those kids off of their lawn before they can catch up.

Here’s a list of the initial titles that’ll be available when it launches:

• Adventure Time by Ryan North, Braden Lamb, Shelli Paroline and various (BOOM! Studios)
• Aliens by Mark Verheiden, Sam Kieth, Peter Milligan and various (Dark Horse Comics)
• Archie by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples (Archie Comics)
• Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama (Kodansha Comics)
• Atomic Robo by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener (Tesladyne)
• Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (Image Comics)
• Bloodshot by Duane Swierczynski, Manuel Garcia and Arturo Lozzi (Valiant Entertainment)
• The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (Dynamite Entertainment)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon and various (Dark Horse Comics)
• Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image Comics)
• The Complete Peanuts by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics Books)
• Conan the Barbarian by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (Dark Horse Comics)
• Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima (Kodansha Comics)
• Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image Comics)
• Ghostbusters by Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, and various (IDW Publishing)
• G.I. Joe by Chuck Dixon, Robert Atkins and various (IDW Publishing)
• Grimm Fairy Tales by Ralph Tedesco, Joe Tyler and various (Zenescope Entertainment)
• Godzilla by Duane Swierczynski, Arthur Adams, Simon Gane and various (IDW Publishing)
• Hellboy by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse Comics)
• Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics Books)
• The Incal by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius (Humanoids)
• Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (Image Comics)
• Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Alburquerque (Oni Press)
• Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (Dark Horse Comics)
• Love and Rockets by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics Books)
• Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW Publishing)
• Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson and Brooke Allen (BOOM! Studios)
• My Little Pony by Katie Cook and Andy Price (IDW Publishing)
• Outcast by Robert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta (Image Comics)
• Pretty Deadly by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios (Image Comics)
• Princeless by Jeremy Whitley and various (Action Lab Entertainment)
• Red Sonja by by Gail Simone, Jenny Frison, and Walter Geovanni (Dynamite Entertainment)
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Serenity by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews and Will Conrad (Dark Horse Comics)
• Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni Press)
• Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky (Image Comics)
• Spawn by Todd McFarlane (Image Comics)
• Star Trek by Mike Johnson, Stephen Molnar, Joe Corroney and various (IDW Publishing)
• Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less by C. Spike Trotman and (Iron Circus Comics)
• Transformers by John Barber, Andrew Griffith, Marcelo Matere and various (IDW Publishing)
• The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse Comics)
• Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
• The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard (Image Comics)
• The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (Image Comics)
• Wonderland by Raven Gregory and Sheldon Goh (Zenescope Entertainment)
• Wuvable Oaf by Ed Luce (Fantagraphics)
• X-O Manowar by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord(Valiant Entertainment)

That is some damn fine content right there. I’m a huge Marvel and DC fan, but some of the best revolutionary work in the industry is being done outside of the big two, who are reactionary publishers of comics. And at $6 a month for offline reading options, that’s a steal. It’s very much the Netflix model of doing business, an all you can read buffet of comic books. And as Netflix has proven, people are more than happy to actually pay for content that they can choose and devour at will.

Hopefully, this works for Comixology Unlimited as the comic book industry has been hard hit with a massive spike in piracy that is slowly killing the industry. The press release didn’t mention exactly just how many issues per series will be available and how quickly it’ll catch up to recent releases, but hell, that selection is too good to be true.

Side note, it’s only available in the US right now, so some tinkering with your iOS or Android address might be needed.

Last Updated: May 25, 2016