Marvel giving away 700 first issue comics for free through its iOS app

Pay attention comic book fans. Marvel has just announced that it is giving away a bundle of over 700 first issue digital comics from throughout its 60+ year history for free through its iOS and web apps.

The deal, which the publisher describes as ‘unprecedented,’ is part of a special promotion for this week’s South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas and will save you up to $4 on classic comics…

From the press release (via MacRumors):

“In an unprecedented new reader initiative, Marvel Comics unleashes Marvel #1, an offering of over 700 first issues from the length and breadth of the company’s history at no charge.

“This is the perfect way to show everyone how much we believe in our material by letting them try the first issues for free, because we’re sure once they start, they won’t stop,” says Marvel SVP – Sales, Digital & Print David Gabriel. “Week in and week out we ask fans to come check out our new releases—both in print and digitally—with the promise that we’ll bring them the best comics made by the best talent and managed by the best editorial team in the industry. Now, existing and news fans [alike] can discover the heroes they know and love and learn about new ones all at the same time.”

The underlying goal for the promo is to attract new readers, with the promise of showing them how it all began for popular superheros like the Avengers squad, the X-Men, Spiderman, and many more.

Marvel is in the middle of a huge digital push right now. In addition to today’s announcement, the comic book-maker also recently launched its Marvel Unlimited subscription service for iOS last week.

If you’re interested in picking up the 700 free first issue digital comics, you can find them in the Marvel Comics app. The sale began last night, and will be ending on Thursday night at 11 PM Eastern time.