A little digital help?

[Perry]

Okay, so it seems I am on the cusp of losing a lot, if not all, of my free comic reading opportunity at the LCS. Not 100% sure, but it is most likely happening and that suuuuuucks. Truth is I have had it too good for way too long anyway and once you get use to something it is quite hard to try and get use to something else, especially when it costs more, but that is the way it is looking.
 

I will no longer be able to just pick up a title and read an issue or 3 (if it didn't sell out) to see if I like it or not, but ya know what, that may just be for the better. Yes, I will have to lose a lot of my "what the heck, lets try it" mentality, that also means I will not (hopefully) be as sidetracked on comics I never finish, while benching titles that I really wanted to get to. It is a bitter sweet thing, if it does happen. I am trying to tell myself.

That said, and if this does come to pass, I will need some help on figuring out the cheapest, or at the very least the most effective way of reading comics. Is that 100% digitally? I hope so.

I know I will be going to Marvel Unlimited for Marvel (and that 6 months is going to seem like forever ... but gives me time to catch up, right) so I will be joing all of you ont that (maybe that will help get comic discussions going again?), but as for DC and Image and ... oh no ... Dark Horse (My dear Black Hammer!!! What shall I do?), all of them do not, to my knowledge, offer any type of unlimited sub service, I am now asking the board ... How do you guys read your digital cheaply?

There was a rumor that DC was going unlimited with Amazon Prime, but that has been almost a year gone since that rumor first hit so I can't count on that anytime soon. Does Comixolgy's Unlimited have any free or discounted stuff past the first 4 issues? Is there any kind of single-purchase/multiple-product like Marvel Unlimited for any of the other publishers? Am I just going to be stuck buying Dark Horse HC's to get my Black Hammer? Will I be able to get Bendis' Action Comics at a price point I can live with? I just refuse to pay $4 or $5 for digital comics. Of course that may change as I get further and further away from the product and start to miss them. Or I will get further and further away from all other publishers products except for Marvel. The one WITH the subscription service. That could also be a win/win I suppose.

Any help? Thanks
 

[Jeff]

ComiXology drops the price by at least $1 on all Image, Valiant, and Dark Horse after a month.  I'm always more than a month behind so I take advantage of that savings.  With ComiXology Unlimited there are a lot of free stuff but always older.  But with Unlimited you get a lot of extra sales for Unlimited only.  They also run big publisher sales every so often so you can pick up a lot of Image and Valiant for 99 cents.  It helps as long as you don't mind being a little behind.

[Perry]

Thanks, Jeff.
I never considered CU as an option, but seems like it could be beneficial ... especially for sales.

And if I am going 6 months late with Marvel U, I think I can do 1 month on the rest. I wonder if they drop them even more after say ... 6 months? That way I could just keep all of my comic reading a half a year behind.
 

[Jeff]

This is new.  They just this week started giving Unlimited members 10% off of most titles.  Not DC of course.  But it even applies to titles that already dropped to the $1.99 price making them $1.79.  They had sent us a survey last month on how to improve the service and this must have come out of that.

Generally the price doesn’t drop again after the first month but if your waiting six months you will get a publisher sale during that time that will essentially do that for you.  That’s how I was able to get the bulk of my wish list purchased.

Also, if you can wait for the DC trades you get more for your money.  The “price per issue” in the DC trades is typically a dollar less than the single issues.  I can’t wait that long for most my DC now but it did save me money when I was so far behind that by the time I bought they had come out.

[Perry]

Well I think I found the answer to my problem (not problem as much as me wanting to remain on the cheap  )

I signed up for the Comixology Unlimited free month, but I am canceling it. I forgot all about Hoopla!! The Library card for comics (that is not its true intent, but it works for it)

I just checked and Hoopla has almost all of the DC stuff I read and they are not that far behind current ... at least not that far for free  . They have the trades for -
Detective Comics 957-962 (About 6 months behind as Detective is twice a month and just hit 974)
Aquaman 25-30 (Even closer as 32 just came out!!)
Super Sons 1-5 (Issue 12 hit not too long ago, so the next trade should be up soon ... maybe)
Titans (they have up to the Lazarus Project, that came out about ... 8 months ago? Is that right?)
Deathstroke 17-20 (and Deathstroke is up to 28 now ... so about 8 months.

Plus they have the first trade of Black Hammer and tons of Image books including up to v8 (issue 48) of Saga and East of West up to v7, issues 30-34 (that is only on issue 36 right now!!!)

The only downside I see, really, is their Valiant lineup is a tad more behind. I didn't see any of the new X-O stuff, so I can almost assuredly be missing the current Bloodshot run from them ... for now, but for free? FOR FREE???

Yeah, I think I will be alright once the LCS boots me out.
 

(Not really booting me as much as I am losing my "in")
 

If your local Library is not involved in Hoopla, write them!!!! It is a free service!!!! You just have to have a valid library card.
 

[Jimmy T]

Unfortunately my library does not have hoopla.I think I did email them once and they said it really wasn't an option for them because they have some other services already.

[Perry]

 

Well I would check another one!! 

It isn't something they "have" as much as being a part of ... I am sure you are aware  , I just don't want others thinking that libraries have to have a special thing at the library itself.  It is like having Ebooks available through Overdrive.

Sucks your library isn't joining the fun, but ...still, yeah I would check around, HERE is the Hoopla map. Maybe you can register at a nearby, participating library? Get a card, download the app and boom, borrow up to 8 trades at a time.
 

Or do you have to be living in the city the library is in to register for a library card? That could be a thing I suppose? That sucks if that is the case!!!!