

The omnipresent and very yuppie-friendly nature of Starbucks makes it an ideal location for the general public to leach wi-fi and show off their new digital tablets, which is why today's news that Starbucks' Digital Network will begin offering free access to Marvel's full library of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited in stores on April 23 has been filed under ComicsAlliance's "Pretty Good Ideas to Help Put Comics In Front of Potential New Readers" tab.

Sure, it's not exactly comprehensive evangelism for the entire comics medium, but considering there's 6,800 Starbucks in the United States, it can't hurt to expose more of the coffee crowd to sequential art through the gateway drug that is superhero comics.As mentioned at The Beat, Marvel's future offerings are presumably in-store readables only and not proper downloads. That seems fair enough considering the content is free to anyone who opens the Starbucks Digital Network at participating locations.

If this program will give users full access to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscription service, a visit to Starbucks would mean the opportunity to check out 8,000 revolving digital comics. As it stands subscriptions to MDCU cost $5 per month, so picking up a venti latte and hanging out at SB for a few hours seems like an alright deal.

From Starbucks' official press release:

"Known for engrossing stories and a library of more than 8,000 characters, Marvel Comics gives Starbucks customers unlimited, free access to its full library of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine and others await to captivate as customers explore the comic realm and imagine fighting villains with a cup of coffee in hand."

Once April rolls around we'll take a look at Starbucks' new Marvel offerings to see what's what. Until then, we absolutely do not recommend that you imagine fighting villains with a cup of coffee in hand.