On Monday, Marvel announced that they’re shutting down their longtime digital comic app, Marvel Unlimited. However, they still plan on running a Netflix-style digital subscription service; instead, popular webcomic service Webtoon is taking over, launching the “Marvel Comics App” (or “Marvel Comics Powered by Webtoon”). The service, launching on November 16, is basically the same as Marvel Unlimited: over 35,000 titles at $10/month, with new ones arriving three months after their direct market print publication. (A higher-priced tier at $12.49/month shortens this to one month.) Marvel Unlimited will shut down on December 7; new sign ups stopped on Monday. The Marvel Comics App site lists how one can transfer their old Unlimited account reading history and saved issues to the new service.
Reaction seems mixed going by my Bluesky feed. Some dislike the idea of Marvel relying on a third party to handle their own digital comic service, especially one that’s technically a competitor. Others just don’t like Webtoon as a company.
I don’t see why Marvel would need to send this service to Webtoon, even if they have an existing deal with them (for Marvel character-based webcomics) or out of some perceived cost-cutting. Was running Marvel Unlimited costing them that much, or that big a hassle? Also, Marvel Unlimited was a longtime, unique name, unlike the super-generic “Marvel Comics App” (not to be confused with Marvel Comics, the comic book company).
I’ve had Marvel Unlimited in the past. It’s a decent enough app, though I eventually canceled it to save money. These days, I use Hoopla, the public library’s free digital app that offers Marvel comics (trade paperbacks/graphic novels).
On a related Marvel note, they’ve stopped publishing comics costing $3.99, making the base cost of single-issue comics $4.99. At $5 for a 22-page story, Marvel Unlimited the Marvel Comics App is a better deal if one’s willing to digitally “trade wait,” and don’t need a physical copy.
Image: Marvel Comics App by Webtoon main page. (Marvel / Webtoon)
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