Marvel Comics has given Marvel Unlimited a major update - and it's a dramatic improvement. Marvel first began releasing online comics back in 1996, and in 2013 their online service was rebranded as Marvel Unlimited. At the time of writing, it contains digital copies of over 29,000 comics and costs $9.99 a month or $69 a year, making it the easiest way for fans to check out the massive Marvel library. New comics aren't added to the library until three months after physical release, a smart way of limiting the impact Marvel Unlimited has on comic book sales.
But any digital offering will always need to be improving in order to remain competitive, especially in light of Marvel's main rival DC now offering DC Universe Infinite. Marvel has just conducted what seems to be the biggest update in years, with a focus on improving the mobile app associated with Marvel Unlimited and a range of exclusive new Infinity Comics - a brand Marvel has adapted from their old partnership with ComiXology. These feature stories by high-profile writers and artists, including Jonathan Hickman, leaving the X-Men line - only to write some X-Men books for Marvel Unlimited instead.
The Marvel Unlimited app's user interface has been dramatically improved, making it much easier to navigate. It feels almost Netflix-style, with a carousel of recommended content to highlight what Marvel deems to be areas of interest at a given moment, especially the new Infinity Comics. It's now possible to easily follow specific comics, characters, or creators - including both writers and artists, which is a particularly nice touch given Marvel is often criticized for focusing on writers to the detriment of artists and colorists. Curiously, on desktop, there's also an option to navigate by event, but that doesn't seem to have been implemented into the app at this point; the functionality around that is a little limited even on the desktop, so it may well be it hasn't quite been finished.
Previous limitations to functionality have been removed, meaning subscribers can now download an unlimited number of comics rather than just 12. It's now possible for a user to save an entire series or run of issues to their library with the press of a button, whereas before they had to select every issue individually. There's still room for further improvement in this particular area, though, because local downloads are still performed one issue at a time. Meanwhile, it's possible to send links to specific issues through social media channels, that when selected by the recipient open directly in the Marvel Unlimited app.
The Infinity Comics - stylistically reminiscent of Webtoons like those recently published by DC - are naturally a major draw, and Marvel has released 27 alongside the launch, with a promise of publishing 100 by the end of the year. Some of these have big names attached, such as Jonathan Hickman and Skottie Young, but others feel a little more like "filler" - serving as primers on characters, sometimes well-established ones; those don't feel as though they've been integrated especially well into the UI, because while they contain the option of viewing more by the creators, a user has to then search for the character rather than select a quick-link. Character-search could use a little refinement because it struggles with examples where someone is known by multiple names; searches for Arana don't produce issues related to her current role as Spider-Girl, for example.
All in all, though, Marvel Unlimited's update is a major success for Marvel Comics. There's still room for improvement, but the UI is sleek and efficient, and the new functionality performs well. Marvel Unlimited was already a must for anybody wanting to navigate the publisher's vast catalogue, but now it has become far more user-friendly.
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