Marvel Comics has revealed the latest major update to the Marvel Unlimited subscription service. The Marvel Unlimited app has been relaunched, ushering in both a major technical overhaul and the debut of a brand new line of "Infinity Comics."
According to Marvel, these Infinity Comics have been created specifically with high-resolution digital screens and the vertical, scrolling format in mind. 27 Infinity Comics are available at launch, including a brand new incarnation of the anthology series X-Men Unlimited. As with previous volumes, each issue of X-Men Unlimited will feature a different creative team and tell a standalone story with a different lead character. The first issue is written by the "Head of X" himself, Jonathan Hickman, who is also debuting the long-awaited miniseries Inferno later this month. Declan Shalvey (Moon Knight) is the artist on X-Men Unlimited #1.
Marvel is promising the Infinity Comics library will grow to 100 comics by the end of the year. Other creators involved include Skottie Young, Dax Gordine, Alyssa Wong, Nathan Stockman, Kelly Thompson, Gerry Duggan, Lucas Werneck and Geoffo. The full list of Infinity Comics titles revealed includes:
- X-Men Unlimited
- Giant-Size Little Marvels
- Captain America
- It’s Jeff
- Black Widow
- Amazing Fantasy
- Deadpool
- Shang-Chi
- Venom/Carnage
“The goal for Marvel Unlimited has always been to provide the best digital experience for our fans by giving them direct access to all of their favorite Marvel comics. With this relaunch, we’re bringing fans an even richer experience with Marvel stories designed in a vertical format for the first time,” said Marvel Entertainment President Dan Buckley in a statement. “Our new Infinity Comics give our creators a chance to tell stories in entirely new ways, and we’re looking forward to connecting our fans to those stories in the months to come.”
Marvel Unlimited has also been given a significant technological upgrade with this relaunch. Along with the redesigned interface and improved search functionality and app stability, users now have the option to download as many comics as they want for offline viewing (previously the downloads were limited to 12 books at a time).
“These updates and a focus on personalization will allow us to reach a new generation of Marvel fans and enhance the experience of current fans,” said Doug Vance, VP of Product and Marketing, DMED Technology. “When we redesign apps like this from the ground up, we align with business goals of our different partners and subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company with the ultimate goal of growing our audience and digital subscriptions while also delivering an even more visually immersive experience.”
As before, Marvel Unlimited is available as either a monthly subscription ($9.99 a month) or annually ($69.99 per year for a standard subscription or $99.99 per year for the Plus tier). The service currently features roughly 29,000 Marvel books, with new releases being added as soon as three months after their original publication.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.