The first week of 2021 that I’ve really been looking forward to is finally here: DC Universe Infinite launch week!
For anyone who hasn’t heard by now, Warner Bros. announced last year that all the DC Universe original shows (Harley Quinn, Doom Patrol, Titans, etc) would be moving from the existing service over to their latest streaming service, HBO Max. That left DC Universe in a bit of position that required a little rebranding, finally leading DC Comics launching the service that they should’ve years ago: all you can read comics!
In all seriousness, last year I finally made the decision to get an annual subscription to Marvel Unlimited and I’m already feeling that I’m getting my money’s worth out of it. Why DC Comics hasn’t had a service like this up until now is beyond me.
In DC’s defense, they did include a library of comics with DC Universe, but they really positioned it as more of a streaming service and a community site. While I hate to see anything super hero-related fail…I am glad that WB was forced to rethink how they handled the DC Comics situation.
I did actually just sign up for DC Universe last night even though the Infinite transition doesn’t happen until Thursday…and DC is actually offering some incentive to do so, but more on that in a minute.
DC Universe Infinite – What You Need to Know
What Is It: On paper, DC Universe Infinite is more or less Marvel Unlimited with Batman. It’s a digital comic book subscription service that features a library of over 24,000 books accessible at launch. New books will hit the service six months after the physical versions launch in-stores. In addition to that, the service will also feature digital-first comics and DC fan event member access.
The six month wait for new books on the service is more or less par for the course, as that’s what Marvel did for years. Late last year they did cut that in half to three months, but considering DC Universe used to have a 1 year wait for new content, I’d say that the service is already doing something right.
I know for some people the six month wait will be too long and that’s okay. If there’s a book that you absolutely have to read, you’ll be able to buy digital versions on Comixology or physical versions in stores. If there’s a book you have to have on day one, I highly suggest supporting your local comic shop, as many of them have been negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic.
What’s On It: The official DC Universe Infinite FAQ pageboasts that the site features the “Biggest DC Digital Comic Book Library Anywhere, Ever: An expanded collection of 24,000+ DC Multiverse titles including select graphic novels, Black Label, with more to come!”
In addition to the six month wait for new books that I mentioned above, subscribers to the service are going to have “[f]irst-access to a collection of titles before they’re available anywhere else”. Those titles, of course, are the previously mentioned digital-first titles.
The three other big points that the company is highlight are DC Comics behind-the-scenes looks, news, and access to the DC character encyclopedia.
What It Costs: The pricing of the new service was one thing I was actually curious to see. According to the site, the price point is going to remain the same as it was when the site was primarily focused on video streaming: a monthly membership will $7.99 a month while the annual plan is $74.99 a year.
I actually think the price point for the service is really interesting. Hear me out on this: Marvel Unlimited costs $9.99 a month — so if you’re a monthly subscriber, that’s $120 a year (before tax). Annually, however, Marvel Unlimited is just shy of $70 a year. That does mean that if you’re looking to only subscribe on a month-by-month basis, DC Universe Infinite is actually the better deal. The annual price being $6 more than Marvel, on the other hand, I saw coming a mile away. I’ve noticed that when it comes to digital comics, especially in the trade formats, DC tends to cost a few dollars more than Marvel, even during sales. It does make me wonder what DC’s end game with pricing is, but at the very least I know that for under $150 a year I can read all the Marvel and DC Comics I want and that makes me very happy.
Why Sign Up Before the Launch: This is the part that actually pushed me to sign up now instead of waiting for Thursday. Straight from the above linked FAQ page:
Eligible members of DC UNIVERSE INFINITE as of February 1, 2021 will also receive a “thank you” voucher to the DC Shop, subject to terms and conditions. Annual subscribers will receive a $25 voucher while monthly subscribers will receive a $10 voucher.
Basically, If you do your 7 day free trial now and turn on auto renewal, DC is going to send you some “free” money to use on the DC shop. There is a catch, however: you have to be signed up before Wednesday Jan. 20th.
While I don’t think that this offer is necessarily going to entice anyone to sign up who isn’t already interested, if, like me, you were already planning to sign up early on, you may as well do it now to get the gift voucher. I’ve looked over the DC Shop and I’ve already seen a few things I’m interested in.
My Thoughts So Far
Like I said, I signed up for the service last night (when the free trial ends I’m auto-renewing into he annual membership) and I do have a few thoughts already.
I do want to preface this by saying I have no connection to WB or DC Comics and have no idea how the app will change after the transition to Infinite occurs on the 21st. Still, this is what I think so far.
- The service already has a pretty solid collection of comics on it. It can only get better once the transition occurs.
- Books can be “streamed” or download — I used Mad Love as a test book and the reading experience was nice. Much like Comixology, you can double tap on the screen to go into a guide view style mode and it seems to work well. Admittedly, I did read on my iPad so I was actually reading with each full page open, with the exception of one two-page spread. I did load up the book on my iPhone just to see how that experience was too. The panel view is going to be pretty essential when reading on your phone on the go.
- I really hope they rework the way you actually browse for a book you’d like to read. Right now, there’s a part that’s very clunky and unintuitive. I’m not even leaving this as a bullet point…it’s too long. Enjoy:
As it currently stands, if you go to Comics and then tap on All Comic Series, you’re greeted with a list of over 1200 series. You can use the filter feature to drill down by Era, Top Characters, Artists, and Writers, which is nice. Once you select your criteria (let’s say New 52 and Batman, it tells you how many results there will be and you press the button. This is where the search system loses me. Let’s say I’m near the end of the list and I want to look at Batman: Europa but I’m not ready to commit to reading it — I tap on it to see the available issues. Okay. Now I tap on an issue to see when it was released. At this point, I can either act on the book or go back. Tapping back once takes me back to the issue list. Hitting back again takes me ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE INITIAL COMICS PAGE. What the hell, DC?
Let’s try that again from selecting an issue of Batman: Europa. But before we can do that, we have to refill all of our search criteria. To get back to my filtered search from the issue I’m looking at, I need to go back one time to the issue list. Then, instead of going back again (since that’s a disaster and a half) I need to look at the top of the issues list where my filters are listed. The one that says Series: Batman Europa (2015-2016) needs to be tapped on. That clears it. Then I go back to my filtered search results. Not to the spot I was at but it’s better than nothing. At least it’s drilled down to that list of 100 series that feature Batman from the New 52.
There has to be a better way, DC! In fact, I know there is because Marvel Unlimited has it. If I decide that in the time it took me to locate and tap on Old Man Hawkeye in the Marvel Unlimited app, that I don’t want to read it right now after all, going back takes me back to my list — back to where I was. I didn’t have to find tags at the top. I didn’t have to learn through trial and error that going back is a mistake. It just did it.
If there’s one thing that changes with DC Universe Infinite, it’s that I’d like to see the process of changing your mind about what to read just a little bit easier. But I’ll see what happens with the service once the transition starts. Be sure to check back soon for my full review of the service once I get a chance to play with it in its new state. If you want to sign up for DC Universe now to take advantage of the DC Shop promotion, you can do that here. DC Comics and Warner Bros. aren’t sponsors of this post and I get nothing if you follow that link — I just want to make your life a little easier.
In the meantime, what’s the first comic your reading when you join the service — let me know down in the comments below. I’m always open to recommendations!
Dan Stransky 