Marvel launches new online comics initiative

Today, Marvel Comics announced an expansive online comics initiative, designed to reach new fans by making an archive of more than 2,500 Marvel Comics available for viewing online for a nominal fee. Available comics range from the first appearances of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Iron Man to more recent endeavors, including the Ultimate universe and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

This initiative, called Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, provides readers access to its growing online archive in a high-resolution format on computer screens for $59.88 a year, or at a monthly rate of $9.99. The comics, which can only be read online, are not downloadable.

From Marvel's press release:

The easy-to-navigate Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited site presents each digital comic in the highest-resolution ever available and offers innovative viewing options, user-friendly search and recommendation features, and personalized reading list tools. Accessible by both PC and MAC users directly through Marvel.com/digitalcomics as well as via the www.marvel.com homepage, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will have subscription rates as low as $4.99/month -- making it affordable to new readers and longtime fans.

So they don't cannibalize sales from comic shops, new comics will not be available online until six months after their release dates.

For more information, and for 250 free sampler issues, go to http://marvel.com/digitalcomics/hq/