Just prior to New York Comic Con, Marvel Comics made the shocking announcement that it was sunsetting the long-running Marvel Unlimited membership later this year in favor of an updated, brand new comic subscription service launching in November as part of a new partnership with web comics company WEBTOON Entertainment. The two companies then set up a specal booth at NYCC to showcase the beta version of the app as well as other festivities and giveaways. Below is what the booth looked like during that eventful weekend.
Located betweeen the WEBTOON and Marvel Comics booth, the Marvel Comics app booth was particularly eventful during NY Comic-Con. One side had a "spin the wheel" contest where guests could participate in order to win comics, action figures and other prizes. The other side, where said prizes could be claimed, had an area where people could also pre-order the annual subscription version of the Ultimate membership tier, with the first 2,000 people to do so would be given an exclusive, limited-edition Marvel Comics print ID card for "founding members". I sadly passed on that offer, as I prefer signing up for the monthly version of the Ultimate tier when the services launches. While I do not have photos of the member cards, they looked cool and each had different characters on them.
The biggest draw, however, was the nearby tablet screens where people could demo the beta version of the service's app while visiting the booth. I, myself, got a chance to try it out and, honestly, it was quite fun! The app is neatly organized by single issues, just like the Marvel Unlimited service, so those hoping for graphic novel collections or omnibuses like the DC Infinite service will be a bit disappointed (though hopefully, such features could come later on). However, the quality of viewing each comic issue is fantastic and each series is neatly organized. As detailed by Marvel themselves, "the app is designed to make comic discovery faster, reading more flexible, and ongoing series easier to follow. The Marvel Comics app will include archived comics, current comic book runs, and will support both traditional page-based comics and vertical-scroll formats." The service, in addition to 35,000 digital comics at launch, will also come with new features, such as custom "pull lists" that will give new issues from followed comics, series, and creators. Plus, those with an existing Marvel Unlimited membership will be able to port their libraries over to the new service at launch, so there's no fears of losing your stuff!
The new Marvel Comics comic subscription service lauches November 16th. You can find more info and pre-order the Ultimate Annual here!