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"Marvel has launched a new iOS app today called Marvel Unlimited, giving comic book enthusiasts unlimited access to a broad range of titles via its existing online subscription service.\r\n\r\nThe app is an extension of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, an on-demand, subscription-based service similar to what Netflix is for movies or Rdio for music. Once you\u2019ve signed in with your account, the app has two horizontal lists showing new releases from the last seven days and the most popular comics being read that week.\r\n\r\nEach available issue is represented by the cover of the comic, as well as the number of the original print issue, when it was released and the artists involved. Tapping on a cover brings up a short synopsis of the issue, as well as the option to read it immediately or add it to your offline library.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you don\u2019t fancy shelling out for a subscription - it\u2019s currently $59.98 for an annual subscription, or about $5 per month when purchased online - there\u2019s also a free option available from a button in the top left-hand corner of the home screen.\r\n\r\nThe subsequent screen has a surprisingly large number of issues to explore, filtered by what\u2019s free to read for the current week and month. Although it\u2019s a great way of trying out the interface and getting a feel for how it all works, the free access isn\u2019t really a viable option if you want to browse\u00A0or follow an entire series.\r\n\r\nThis is because the available issues are a curated selection, meaning that even if they feature the same character - at least three issues of Captain America are available at launch, for example - they\u2019re all from issues published in different years, from different series and drawn by different artists.\r\n\r\nThe reading experience is, for the most part, pretty intuitive though. Swiping back and forth moves between the pages, while pinch-to-zoom is invaluable for homing in on individual panels. In our tests all of the text was razor sharp, and the colors were represented beautifully on the iPhone\u2019s screen.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA slider on the bottom can be used to quickly forwards or backwards through the issue, and there\u2019s also a button in the bottom right-hand corner to switch between one of three viewing modes; 1-Page, 2-Page and Smart Panels.\r\n\r\nThe first two operate just as you would expect, replicating the look and feel of a physical comic book. 2-Page panels are particularly important for stitching together pages that were designed to work together as a single spread.\r\n\r\nSmart Panels, however, shows each tile one at a time, in theory removing the need to constantly zoom in and out. In portrait mode it makes very little difference, but if you\u2019re holding your iPad or iPhone in landscape, it can help to automatically readjust each panel as you read.\r\n\r\nOne of the biggest drawbacks to Marvel Unlimited is that it can only save six comics at a time in the library. For offline playback that\u2019s a big problem, as many comic enthusiasts will be hoping to download an entire volume, collection or weekly release before they go on holiday or somewhere without a stable Internet connection.\r\n\r\nGizmodo has noted that the app has access to 13,000 back issues in total, although at the moment these are all at least six months old.\r\n\r\nAgain, that\u2019s a big problem for users looking to stay up to date with their favourite series. Just like with any other form of entertainment, fans don\u2019t like to wait around in order to get their fix of the latest movie, TV show episode or album. Differences in release dates is ultimately what leads to piracy, so if Marvel is to make any headway with this service, it\u2019ll need to drastically tighten this gap in availability.\r\n\r\nThe app is available right now if you search for it in the App Store now, and Marvel has been cited as saying an Android version is coming \u201Csoon\u201D.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Marvel Unlimited | iOS\r\n\r\nDisclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service.\r\n\r\nImage Credit:\u00A0Mario Tama/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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