A Hypothetical Subscription Model

I have often suggested the idea of subscribing by mail to comic books as a less expensive alternative to buying them at comic book shops.  (For example, see my 2022 blog post "How to Subscribe to Comic Books Through the Mail," as well as my 2024 post titled "My Subscription to Captain America in 2023," and more recently my YouTube video "How to Subscribe to Comic Books Through the Mail in 2025" from last year.)

The disadvantage to subscribing by mail is that the issues may arrive a week or two (or more) after their release dates in stores, and might arrive in less than pristine condition due to being mailed in a thin plastic wrapper.  Therefore it might not be ideal for a serious collector or hardcore fan.  But for a casual reader, particularly a person who doesn't live near a comics shop, it can be a great way to keep up with the latest comic books.  Gift subscriptions could also allow a parent to get their child into the habit of reading regularly without having to visit a store every month to do so.  

Midtown Comics is the company that handles the subscriptions for Marvel and DC comics.  Archie Comics subscriptions are mailed in a similar manner (in a plastic wrapper) but seem to be handled by someone other Midtown.  Not every Marvel and DC series can be subscribed to, although the most popular titles are generally represented.  Even mini-series and one-shots are sometimes included on the subscription site.  ("Subscribing" to a one-shot is a good way to inexpensively test the waters and see if subscribing is right for you. If you hate the experience, it only cost you a few bucks to find out.)  

Unfortunately, only Marvel, DC and Archie titles offer these discounted mail subscriptions, to my knowledge.  I've always thought it was a shame that many independents were not also offered that way, particularly for titles that would have appeal for a general, non-fan audience.  (Midtown Comics, like other comic book dealers, does allow customers to order comics from their own website, but that is geared more towards the collector and costs a bit more.)  

Recently Midtown announced that they had set up a new website (with a new URL) for their Marvel subscriptions, since a link to the "Print Subscriptions" was no longer on the Marvel website.  (As of this writing, the subscriptions link is still available on DC's website.) The new site is https://www.comicstoresubscriptions.com/  

This new site is basically the same as the old Marvel subscription site, though, with only Marvel titles listed.  But the generic name of the site got me thinking:  Wouldn't it be great if the site expanded to include all comic book publishers, not just Marvel?

Such a site could be aimed at the general public, including non-fans who may want to give a gift subscription to a friend or relative.  It could include the most popular Marvel, DC and Archie titles, as well as notable series published by Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, Image, Mad Cave, Oni Press and others.  

Many indies are publishing licensed titles these days, based on old TV shows or featuring Disney characters.  These are comics that have name recognition with the general public, but those folks probably will never see those comics or know that they exist. (Heck, even some longtime comic book fans may not know about them!)  A general subscription site offering these comics might make it easier for those comics to be discovered by readers.

If a parent wanted to buy a comic subscription for their child, unfortunately they might be discouraged because there are currently no "All Ages" Marvel titles available on the site.  There is a "Rating" tab at the top, but when you click the "Kids" category, no titles show up.  The other ratings are T, T+ and PA.  The T category is the youngest rating available currently and includes titles like Amazing Spider-Man and Star Wars.  

Many other publishers, however, do publish "All Ages" comics, so if their titles were added to the subscription website, that would increase the amount of family friendly material available to customers.  The top of the site could not only include a "Rating" tab, but also a "Publishers" tab, where you could select a particular publisher to view only that publisher's titles.  By clicking "All Series" or "All Publishers" you could view a list of all the comics available on the site to which you can subscribe.

So, that's what I've done below, showing what such a site might look like if you were to view the various comics available from all publishers there.  Of course, I could have added more comics, more publishers, more series, but this demonstrates the idea.  I took the DC images from the DC website, and I took the Marvel images from Midtown's new website for their Marvel subscriptions.  The other images, showing the other publishers, were taken from solicitations of upcoming comic books on my local comics shop's website (where these issues can be advance-ordered).  I made some modifications to show what the issues would cost based on the discounts currently offered for Marvel and DC subscriptions.

So, what do you think?  Would a subscription website like this entice people to buy comic books that they otherwise might not even know about?  Would it help get these comics into the hands of readers who don't go to comics shops?  Or, does it simply reveal that publishers these days are not doing comics that will interest potential readers?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

A HYPOTHETICAL SUBSCRIPTION WEBSITE:

Thanks for reading!