FW Presents: DC Universe Infinite – Pros and Cons

Thinking about trying the digital comic subscription service DC UNIVERSE INFINITE? Or just want help getting the most out of your subscription? The Irredeemable Shag and Paul Hix discuss the best (and worst) features of the app, and suggest some often overlooked titles worth reading!

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22 responses to “FW Presents: DC Universe Infinite – Pros and Cons

  1. Great show guys. I just signed up three weeks ago and it’s been worth it. I’m mostly reading stuff from the 70s and 80s and often inspired by podcasts: Captain Atom, the FYL Legion, and Superfriends (for the Global Guardians appearances) and a few things here and there with the JSA. Oh and Doomsday Clock; I read the first 6 issues in a trade two years ago. That it takes two and a half years to do a 12 issue series is why I don’t read new comics (and it wasn’t worth the wait!)

  2. Great episode! I downloaded the app back in June and have been reading through the “Crisis hangover” books–stuff DC published between Crisis and Legends that was post-Crisis but pre-reboot. I’ve also got a bunch of stuff saved.

    It’s also helped me pare down my back issue want list. So now I can focus on finishing my run of Arak and not having to worry about hunting down those missing Suicide Squad books

    1. Listen to the episode as we discuss how to access it from other countries anyway. That’s what Paul does and it works for him.

  3. Great episode guys I joined the service right from launch and really have loved it every step of the way.
    Personally my favorite part is the community (Message board)
    This blows the old DC message boards out of the water as it is much friendlier and open to any opinion ( I used to get continually sniped at by trolls in the old boards because I liked WLly more than Barry and Kyle more than Hal)
    When it comes to reading the comics, I usually pick something and dive in. More often than not it’s series that I passed over in the old days and/or wasn’t aware of
    Legion of SuperHeroes 5YL (thanks Shagg!)
    Acronym LEGION I’m not going to bother putting periods between each letter I think just making it all caps is enough !
    Suicide Squad
    The original Teen Titans series
    Wasteland (Actually personally requested that one!) and others as the mood strikes me

  4. I’m only eleven minutes in, but I have thoughts I want to share before I forget:
    1) Ain’t West Wing great?
    2) Paul Hix is modern DC’s best ambassador to this audience. He knows our complaints and what we’re looking for out of a comic. He finds DC’s best “feet” and puts them forward.

  5. I had some of the same problems Shag mentioned with trying to download comics to a device and then having trouble accessing them or not all the pages are viewable. At least before the app changed to “Infinite,” the problem seemed to be caused by hitting DOWNLOAD and not staying on the page until it showed it had finished downloading. If you leave the page before it finishes, the app may claim it downloaded the comic, but it’s all a lie! I’m not sure if this issue has been fixed in the new app, but I suspect it is still there because I recently had the same issue.

  6. Loved this episode and thank you Shagg for the shoutout!

    As it was said in the episode, I’ve been on the app since day one and I love it. The hardest times we’re dealing with people on the message boards who didn’t do their research and yelling that this app is supposed to have everything (it was never advertised to have EVERYTHING DC cause of rights issues) and the constant articles on how DC Universe was gonna go under and bomb.

  7. OK, I’ve heard the whole show, such fun! So yeah, I could likely go Paul’s route but it sounds a bit of faff, and I want all the functionality, plus, who wants Visible Panty Line. So I’ll wait with fingers crossed. I’m not short of stuff to read, with several trades waiting for my attention and of course, like Paul, I BUY NEW COMICS!

    I know.

    I’m several trades into Injustice and had no idea that I was missing story points, and parts were continued in the game. I’ve not played a video game since Binatone Tennis, but it read just fine. A tribute to Taylor’s skill or a condemnation of how choppy modern comics can be (Brian Bendis, I’m looking at you)?

    Ooh message boards, that’s interesting me.

    I read Young Heroes in Love for her first time last year and it is indeed terrific, it doesn’t seem old fashioned. And I back Shag on Justice League Incarnations, that’s a fab read.

    I back both your recommendations and would add the pre-New 52 Zatanna, Chase and Chronos. Of course, I don’t know they’re actually on the app…

    Is ‘Mazing Man on there? It’s weird that this gem wasn’t represented in that Paul Levitz Eighties hardback Shag (rightly) recommends. Ditto Thriller.

  8. I had not even heard about this new service. Thanks for this informative episode. I haven’t made the into buying reading services, yet this episode is making me consider it a little more

  9. I was wondering if anyone knows if the creators receive any royalties when their books are read on the app. Are we denying them money by reading digital instead of print?

    Overall I have been very happy with the app and love the deep selection of material.

  10. I got the DC Universe app in the midst of sitting at home bored in early 2020 during pandemic lockdowns. My wife convinced me to subscribe to both the Marvel app and the DC app. “You never spend money on yourself.” True, that. These apps are ideal for me because I don’t want to spend money on buying individual comics, and I don’t have the space to store them if I did. Growing up I was much more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy, so it’s been great to go back and read runs that I’ve heard good stuff about that I missed the first time around. To date, I’ve read:
    1980s Captain Atom
    Late 1980s Will Payton Starman
    Early 90s Robin
    Early 90s Deathstroke
    Early 90s Superboy
    Hawkworld (mini-series and ongoing)
    The entire Gail Simone run on Birds of Prey
    Secret Six
    Justice League: Generation Lost (Like Shagg, didn’t care for it)
    Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
    Peter David Aquaman
    John Ostrander Suicide Squad
    Batman & The Outsiders
    Young Justice
    The first few issues of Young All-Stars and Infinity, Inc. Couldn’t get past the first 10 or so issues.
    Super Friends (to read the Global Guardians first appearances)
    The Outsiders (1980s–I tried the later versions and couldn’t get into them)
    The 1980s Vigilante series
    I plan to dive into some Green Arrow, Green Lantern, All-Star Squadron, Star and STRIPE, and do a Geoff Johns JSA re-read.
    A feature of the app I don’t like is the search. A lot of the time I just want to scroll until I see something that strikes my interest. I tend to scroll through them in chronological order, which helps me home in on the 80s-90s stuff I’m usually interested in. The problem is, you click on a series, then change your mind and want to go back to the list, it starts all the way back at the beginning, not at the point you left. Kind of annoying. The Marvel app doesn’t have this bug. And like everyone else, there are some gaps in the collection that vex me. Where’s the 1990s series of The Ray? Where’s the Mike Parobeck JSA series? Anyway, I really like the app and as you see, I’ve gotten many hours of enjoyment from it. It helped me through a really tedious time and I’m grateful for it.

    1. 1980s Captain Atom
      Awesome

      Late 1980s Will Payton Starman
      Only Shagg stans for it really

      Early 90s Robin
      Great stuff

      Early 90s Deathstroke
      Nope

      Early 90s Superboy
      Very nice

      Hawkworld (mini-series and ongoing)
      Good read (shut up, Bass)

      The entire Gail Simone run on Birds of Prey
      My main obstacle for that is the art, but one day maybe…

      Secret Six
      The one true heir to Suicide Squad’s glory

      Justice League: Generation Lost (Like Shagg, didn’t care for it)
      Mmm, yeah

      Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
      I keep dipping in and out, but I’ve decided New TT isn’t my thing

      Peter David Aquaman
      This on the other hand (ha!) totally was

      John Ostrander Suicide Squad
      Perfection

      Batman & The Outsiders
      What’s the opposite of perfection?

      Young Justice
      Have a feeling I would find it dated now

      The first few issues of Young All-Stars and Infinity, Inc. Couldn’t get past the first 10 or so issues.
      Agree. I love the subject matter more than the execution

      Super Friends (to read the Global Guardians first appearances)
      And to follow along with Rob’s show, needs must!

      The Outsiders (1980s–I tried the later versions and couldn’t get into them)
      See above, but maybe it’s better without Batman undermining the team all the time

      The 1980s Vigilante series
      Dunno, but I’ve thrown it out with the Titans bathwater.

      1. I agree about New Teen Titans…I read a bunch of it, starting from the beginning, because I’d heard so much about that run. It’s…okay. I really like Cyborg and Nightwing. The other characters I could take or leave (Raven is never quite as interesting as she seems like she could be). I gave up after a while. I might skip ahead to the early 90s era? I dunno.

        Outsiders was only okay. I never really understood these characters reasons for banding together, especially after Batman left. What made them Outsiders? They seemed to operate pretty similar to the Justice League to me.

        The Vigilante series doesn’t seem to tie into Titans much at all and for the most part it’s a gritty crime/law drama. I have to be in the right mood for it so I take it in small doses.

  11. Great discussion gents! I pay for DCIU, but sadly haven’t gotten around to using it much. I had the DC Universe app mostly for easier access to the TV shows and films, and I didn’t unsubscribe, so it just rolled over. I’ve used it JUST enough to warrant the bill, but that’s it. But that’s on me, as there’s a ton out there I know I would enjoy. I need to get myself a dedicated comic tablet (Amazon Fire would be fine) to read this and the Marvel App. I currently read DC on my PC, and Marvel on my phone, as it seems Marvel’s PC interface is really shoddy.

    Chris

  12. This was fun to listen to! It was great to hear your feelings on the app. I’ve never been a digital comics reader, but this does make me more interested to maybe give it a go.

    Though I’m in the same camp as Martin, us Canadians can’t get DC Infinite (without going through the VPN hoops, like Paul mentioned). Though the reason I really wanted to get a membership was to get all the DC shows and movies to show my kids. But now those shows have gone over to HBO Max (which us Canadians can’t get, either), I’m not sure if I would subscribe to the app JUST for the comics. Though hearing some of the great old comics that you talk about, that I would be able to read without paying an arm and leg for, does bring my interest back up.

    Does anyone know if either DC Universe/Infinite or HBO Max will ever be accessible outside of the US? Is it just rights holders mucking up the business?

    Well done, gentlemen. Keep up the great work!

  13. Great show guys! I’m a subscriber from the very beginning of DCU and I am very happy with it. I joined mainly for the comics so I was not disappointed when the video portion went away and was very happy when they added the vast singles library. I consider it a great value. I have an iPad so reading comics is very convenient.

    The best part in my opinion is the community (which you can join for free). A great welcoming community with really fun intelligent members and great moderators. It is so positive and fun to be around both DC Comics fans and genre (nerd & geek) fans in general. There are even clubs for all different interests related to DC & comics (comics history, different genres (horror, etc.), TV, Movies, Art (appreciation & application), and so much more). My favorite section is the Iceberg Lounge which allows topics not related to DC properties so anything goes (within community guidelines). If, like me, you’re not someone who frequents a local comic shop this is a place to talk about all things geeky (kinda like the Fire & Water Network).

    Check it out!

  14. I am not a subscriber to DCU Infinite, so I appreciated your description of the service and its features. I consume most of my comics digitally nowadays. As a result, I should probably do a cost/benefit analysis to see if I’d be better off subscribing. Of course, I’d also need to give some thought to which service I should subscribe (Comixology, DC, or Marvel), because I don’t think I buy enough comics to justify more than one subscription service. Regardless, you’ve given me a lot to chew on.

    Thanks for another excellent episode.

  15. What a great idea for a show! ;o) Thanks for the name check, Shag!
    The VPN thing sounds a bit fiddly and an additional expense – I think I’ll be waiting for the official UK launch of the service. (Isn’t it interesting that we all feel that this totally legal way of pretending to be in a different country necessitates *whispering in hushed tones*!)
    Sounds like there’s plenty of goodies to get stuck into when DC Universe Infinite (DCUI?) makes it to these shores – what kind of capitalists do At&T think they are, when folks outside the boundaries of the continent of America like me would happily throw some money their way?

  16. “DC Universe Infinite” sounded like another miniseries … I totally forgot that was the name of the new service. That’s a pretty rough pivot to go from streaming to just comic books. But as you said the price is even better than Marvel’s. I honestly thought the WB people running things would be too cheap to try out a comic book service. But if they now have as many titles as you said I’ll definitely give it a shot once the full page view thing comes out of beta on iOS. Anyway very informative episode and a great subject matter. My only nit is it would have been useful to hear more about the obvious holes in what they have available; that’s the kind of thing that can make or break any service.

  17. Finally got around to listening to this episode. Great episode – and I also really like DCUI and have had it since the beginning. As for the name – I agree it is unwieldy but I just call it DC Universe which is what I bet it will change back to at some point. I have re-read many books that I haven’t read in years like Vigilante and Checkmate as we as newer stuff. I also like the list feature and have a handful of lists myself. Thanks for the fun conversation!!

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