Both a superhero horror story and an intimate character study that’s unexpectedly shocking and emotional, Buddy Baker’s strange journey unfolds in this complete run. Animal Man Jeff Lemire’s take on Animal Man is one for the ages. The entire run is currently ready to read on ComiXology. When the original five students Xavier from their first days of the school are thrown forward in time to the present, they’re not prepared for the future they find. Call it a small but definite step forward for the medium.26 Images All-New X-Men Brian Michael Bendis brought together the past and the present in this 2012 X-Men series. But despite its drawbacks, ComiXology Unlimited is undeniably providing some of the best of the illustrated medium being published today, and it’s helping to ease the cost, both in dollars and shelf space, of collecting entire comic series. The service will change up its offerings regularly, but it seems pegged as more of an exploration service than a fully stocked library. It’s frustrating that, in most cases, only the first or the first few volumes of a series are available to borrow.
The technology that ComiXology uses, Guided View technology, allows readers to view comics either full screen or panel by panel on a touchscreen device, with their retina display version, called CMX-HD, doing the same in higher definition. (Marvel already has its own subscription service DC’s resisted.) That might be a deal breaker for die-hard superhero fans, but for readers of the burgeoning selection of great new material - such as Saga and The Walking Dead from Image - or old classics - such as The Peanuts from Fantagraphics - the rental service is still very attractive.
One is that comics from DC and Marvel, which are available for purchase on ComiXology (along with 50,000 other titles), are not included in the unlimited service. ComiXology, a subsidiary of Amazon and a perennial top performer among iPad apps, unveiled ComiXology Unlimited, a $5.99 a month subscription service that lets users “borrow” as many titles as they can read. The most successful online platform for fans of graphic novels, digital comics and manga just bolstered its dominance in the market.