Spotify does it. Netflix does it. Amazon Prime does it on many Kindle offerings. And Marvel does it with Marvel Unlimited. But they are alone in the big comic book publishers to offer an all-you-can-eat subscription service, and they are rather picky regarding which books end up there. Scribd does offer a multi-publisher option, but it is a limited one with major exceptions.

Well it is time for the industry to undergo as big a change as the launch of ComiXology itself. At the behest of their new owners Amazon, the leading digital comics distributor and publisher ComiXology will be offering all-you-can-eat subscription services to readers, allowing them to pay a fixed fee, then have unlimited access to select comic books. And publishers will have to play along. My expectation is that this would be compulsory for ComiXology Submit.

I would expect recent books to not be available this way. But for those willing to timeshift their comic book reading habits, as many have done for Marvel, this could lead to significant savings for the average comic book fan. It would likely lead to an increase in reading, but also a decrease in revenue for publishers and creators. Comixology expect considerable disquiet from their publishers.

But Amazon have spoken and so it must be. Will it be called ComiXology Prime?

Look for an announcement, not at San Diego Comic Con, but at New York Comic Con.

So, will anyone pull a Taylor Swift?

ComiXology did not respond to e-mails.