The way we are consuming media has changed a lot. Every company from Apple, Disney, CBS, Warner Bros and more are creating their own streaming platforms. Because it is through streaming that consumers are now watching and reading all their favorite forms of entertainment. Reading comics books is no different.
Just like TV shows, movies and literature, comic books must also adapt to the changing ways people consume entertainment. Luckily for us Marvel, DC Comics, IDW, Image and the other comic book companies understand this. Whether it is through their own digital platforms, Marvel Unlimited and DC Universe, or in partnership with ComiXology we have a large amount of comics past and present available to us.
What makes this great for the comic book industry specifically is that companies like Marvel and DC Comics universes past is incredibly important to their past and present. The importance of comic book stories that happened in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and so on continue to be extremely important to what we are reading now. With comics available digitally now anyone can read stories like Spider-Man’s “Nothing Can Stop The Juggernaut” without having to hunt down specific trades or issues. It is all readily available to us.
Which brings the price of these comics to also be something companies like DC and Marvel have to be careful. And with new comics can running anywhere from $3.99 to $10 I understand why many people shy away from reading comics. That is where it is great to see both DC and Marvel jump into the streaming game.
For Marvel they currently have their Marvel Unlimited package. With Marvel Unlimited for $9.99 a month, or $69 per year, you can read over 25,000 comics. That is a massive library which is even more valuable considering that there is nothing bigger right now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Being able to point to specific stories that inspired the Avengers movies and how to easily download them is much more attractive than saying you have to spend time hunting all these comics down.
The same goes for the DC Universe streaming service, which just announced they are adding the majority of their library later this month. That is a big announcement that makes up for what many thought was the weakness of the DC Universe service. This goes a long way to get people into the DCU.
What’s great about both Marvel and DC Comics having a majority of their library available is that this helps build competition between companies. Because they aren’t the only players in the digital game as companies like ComiXology have their own service. Having more than one competitor in the market will make things like DC putting their entire library on their platform a greater priority.
There will likely always be room for places like comic book stores to pick up physical comic books but right now the world is moving to digital platforms. Seeing comic book companies adapt to this fact with platforms like DC Universe, Marvel Unlimited and ComiXology Unlimited makes me incredibly thankful. Not only does this give current fans access to more stories but also an opportunity to bring in new readers. And with the younger generation growing up with streaming service DC, Marvel and all comic book companies adapting to this way of consuming entertainment. How these comic book digital platforms evolve in the future will be extremely exciting to see.
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