In the 24-ish hours since I signed up for my 30-day free trial of Comixology Unlimited, I’ve read about fifteen graphic novels and like four floppies.

Yes, I’ve gone overboard but it’s what I do. In the first month that I signed up for kindle unlimited back in 2014, I must’ve read fifty books. So yeah, excess with subscription services is kind of my thing. Anyway, I really like the program so far. I’ve been able to catch up with series like Masks and Vampirella (and by “catch up”, I mean “start”) and I’ve reread some other trades that I loved for Lazarus and Fatale. Right now, I’m reading Vampirella. I can’t even believe it because this isn’t something I’ve ever been interested in prior to like Gail Simone heading up the Swords of Sorrow event.

I like that there are a lot of Valiant first volumes included in CU because I’ve been meaning to start checking out their expansive universe. It’s a lot like reading Wildstorm in the 90s (or in the mid 2000s for me as I was a wee child back then) only without their own Apollo/Midnighter going on.

(On a side note: if anyone knows of any Valiant comics with queer characters starring front and center as heroes/anti-heroes, lemme know!)

Comixology Unlimited is a good deal at $5.99 a month following your free month trial. You get access to a bunch of really cool, kind of indie comics that you probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. Sure, some of these books (like the Ghost omnibus I was wailing about on twitter) are messes, but I’ve really only come across a couple of books I wish I hadn’t read.

I do wonder how creators are getting paid through this. I heard that the publishers (Image, IDW, Boom, Dark Horse, etc) were asked whether they’d like to participate and then they were to tell their creative teams that their books were included in the service. However, from yesterday I noticed that many creators whose books are on Comixology Unlimited were like “what the shit, my book is up here?”…

Not a good look.

I also wonder how these creators are getting paid. Kindle Unlimited isn’t exactly a big money maker for authors unless they have a hit series and tons of books out so I’m worried that this similar service won’t be a good thing for the creators I want to support.

I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground on this one because I’d like to know more about who gets the benefits and how creators fare from this. If it comes out that this isn’t a thing where the creators I enjoy aren’t getting a good deal, I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue subscribing.

Overall:

I like Comixology Unlimited.

A lot.

I’m working my way through a couple more books and then I’m going to take a break to you know… do my actual job and blog about Rebirth (not my actual job).

I’m hopeful that that the creators are getting paid fairly for their contributions and that enough people subscribe to make the service a viable one for making comics accessible to fans and profitable for creators (who don’t actually make that much from their books when you think about it). I’m looking forward to seeing what other series and volumes are included as the months pass.

Right now I’m going to stay positive and I’m going to keep reading. I have a few planned minireviews that wouldn’t have been possible without this subscription service and I want to make sure that everyone gets to know about the quality content put out by Valiant and Dynamite.

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Now awesome readers: are any of you subscribed to Comixology Unlimited? If so, what are some books you’ve read so far? (Because I’m nosy and want to read all of the things!)