Starting today, GlobalComix is launching single-book purchases, beginning with Dark Horse Comics. You can now buy individual books from select titles directly on the platform and in the GlobalComix app, with no membership required. This new feature gives you more flexibility than ever to enjoy your favorite stories, including brand-new releases available the same day they hit comic shops.
These are sometimes referred to as à la carte purchases, meaning you can pick and choose the exact comics you want, without needing to subscribe. You might also hear the term day-and-date, which means the book is available on GlobalComix the same day it hits retail shelves. We've added a "Single-book Purchases" section to the GlobalComix FAQ for answers to common questions related to this new purchase option.
Whether catching up on the latest arc or diving into a buzzy new debut, buying a single book is as easy as clicking "Buy." Once purchased, the issue is available to read and download for offline reading as many times as you want. Your purchase grants you a license for personal use, with more details available in our Terms of Service.
New from Dark Horse Comics
56 new arrivals are available for single-book purchase. This includes iconic franchises like Star Wars, Stranger Things, and more. Moving forward, new comics from Dark Horse will arrive on GlobalComix the same day they release in comic shops and retail stores.
GlobalComix Gold Still Gets You the Best Deal in Comics
Our Gold membership is still the best way to explore the GlobalComix library. With GlobalComix Gold, you get unlimited access to nearly 90,000 comics, including top titles from DC, Image, Dark Horse, BOOM!, and more. Gold members also receive exclusive discounts on releases available through single-book purchase.
So, whether you prefer a membership, buying just what you want, or mixing both, GlobalComix gives you the power to read your way.
More Publishers Coming Soon
We’re working to bring even more publishers and new comics to the single-book experience. Nothing to announce just yet, but there is more on the way.
Coming Soon: Creator Access
Later this year, we’ll begin rolling out single-book sales for creators on GlobalComix. This will unlock new monetization options and give creators more control over how they release their work. Details on how to participate will be announced soon.
AliE 3 months ago
Dark Horse have now locked books behind purchases that were previously available with a gold subscription (Resident Alien and the Witcher series for example). Is this going to be the case moving forward, especially as more publishers adopt the purchases model?
Bromim0 3 months ago
@AliE: I also would like to know. if it were still available with gold but you can purchase it so you own it even after you don't subscribe to gold then that would be more reasonable
HoldingBraveAcademic 3 months ago
I want a subscription program, not another digital purchase program. This doesn’t seem like a good direction for Global Comix.
morpheus 3 months ago
This is dumb as all hell. I pay a monthly subscription precisely because I don't want to buy individual books. Amazon is right there. Also you locked books behind a paywall that were previously available. I won't be buying a single one of your books on principle. I'm already a paying subscriber, the way the subscription was sold to us was that we'd have access to all the books that were BEHIND PAYWALLS. This is a stupid move and if it becomes the norm I'm cancelling my subscription and I'm sure I won't be the only one. Which sucks, because GlobalComix has been a genuinely incredible service so far. Please reconsider.
morpheus 3 months ago
@BullishBronzeLord: that would make way more sense. Otherwise I don't see a reason to pay for a subscription if publishers start charging subscribers for individual books. At that point I might as well just buy stuff on Kindle.
AliE 3 months ago
@BullishBronzeLord: I've checked Dark Horse books that I added to my library. They've reuploaded series and then locked final volumes behind another pay wall.
More examples: Black Hammer, Dept H, Ether, Hellboy (the short stories collections). These were volumes available with the Gold subscription.
If others like image start doing the same thing I'm not renewing. The lack of Panel Flow on a lot of books I'm interested in reading and with this new approach makes this a bad deal.
AliE 3 months ago
@morpheus: 100% agree. I''d argue if this is the new approach Kindle actually makes more sense. At least everything you buy there has guided view unlike this app.
If it was just day one releases added for purchase that I'd understand, not locking stuff previously available on Gold behind another purchase.
ThunderingIcyFish 3 months ago
@morpheus: agreed. I view this like Netflix. if it becomes more like kindle I'm out
CodeCapybara 3 months ago
I think this would be a good thing if it weren’t for the fact that they locked comics that were previously available on the subscription behind the paywall. It feels like we might lose access to more comics as more publishers get added to the program. Good idea, poor execution.
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@morpheus: One of the big learnings I’ve personally had in my past half decade building out GlobalComix, is just how complicated some publishers licensing structures are...
For example, some publishers have contracts that prohibit access via subscription, some have contracts that prevent same-date availability as print, and so on.
We originally started as a subscription only service because we firmly believe in our mission of making all comics universally accessible. The most recent update to our service, for example, in allowing select publishers to charge for each book individually (for parts of their catalogue) is directly a result of our learnings on what our publishing partners both legally can and are willing to do.
If our goal and mission is to have as many comics accessible to as many people as possible, and we would like to have complete catalogs available as early as possible, we had to make a decision:
Do we hardline a stance on subscription only (and thus not always have the latest, sometimes missing catalogue pieces), or do we find a middleground where the subscription membership still provides immense value to readers around the world but also allows some publishers (where their contracts/board/stakeholders/etc prevent them from giving access to everything via a sub model) to publish their whole catalogue as close to day-and-date as possible.
In the end, and based on thousands of pieces of feedback, we made the choice that it’s better to have everything where some things requires direct purchase and some things are under subscription, than not having the publisher or parts of their catalogue. This way, it’s still legally available (worldwide!), rather than not at all.
PS - balancing this is a form of art, and this is why we’ve been able to negotiate the ability to discount most direct sales prices with a ~10% discount to all subscription members!
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@CodeCapybara: the reality here is that publishers with direct sales will need to rotate content into subscription so folks can wait to get access to stuff.
ps: see comment in different reply 🙇‍♂️
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@HoldingBraveAcademic: thanks for the feedback! please see comment in other thread for context 🙇‍♂️
CodeCapybara 3 months ago
@Christopher: Ah, so if I understand correctly it’s similar to DC’s inclusion in the app? Dark Horse comics rotates in and out of the subscription. And with direct sales enabled it would still be able to be purchased once it rotates out? If so, that’s definitely an improvement.
morpheus 3 months ago
@Christopher: it makes sense that publishers will make new books available for purchase, especially if it's a same-day release of an issue. If what you mentioned in another reply thread is what the publishers will actually plan to do (rotate content from being locked to being available for subscribers after a while) that's also reasonable. What I find to be unreasonable, and which is also a source of frustration for other people in this thread, is that books that have been available here for months are now behind a pay paywall. I got locked out of a book I was reading because now it's behind a paywall. That's not a "same day" release nor even new releases. Will Image start locking Invincible compendium 3 behind a paywall too so subscribers are forced to pay to finish the series they've been reading for a while? This sets a strange precedent, and while I truly appreciate what you mention about multiple contracts and dealing with publisher demands to keep these books available, this could have been handled much better by simply making the NEW UPLOADS be behind the paywall and keeping what was already uploaded as it was, available for subscribers. I hope they will actually rotate their titles as you said, and I want to continue supporting if it does happen that way.
Angrybot9000 3 months ago
This is fking BS i paid a year of GOLD to get access to everything, you cut me in the middle of an issue of resident alien WTF
UNSUBSCRIBED
RunningFleetingPrinter 3 months ago
I'm a huge supporter of GlobalComix, but this feels wrong. I understand that legalities around what can fall under a subscription or not is a difficult conversation, but these books were already available under Gold and then were retroactively amended. If the books didn't fall under the subscription rule then why did Dark Horse make them available under Gold in the first place?!
If this was only applied to new books added then it would be a different story, sad but understandable. I'm sorry but this feels like a rug pull
ThunderingIcyFish 3 months ago
@Christopher: Would have been nice to give people a warning rather than pulling the rug from under them. In the future if this is going to happen again atleast give us a warning like every other major service does
AliE 3 months ago
@Christopher: Thank you for some context, however this doesn't address the issue people are raising. Books that were previously available behind a gold subscription are now locked behind a pay wall. This is frustrating as long running series have locked final volumes behind additional payment.
I also notice there was no response to my question about other publishers following the same practice once paid books become available, which makes me think this is highly likely to be the case.
If this is the case I can guarantee I won't be renewing when my subscription expires.
IReadComics 3 months ago
Sadly I'm cancelling my subscription because of this. Making us buy the books that were already available on Gold feels like a ripoff, especially because we got no warning. I'll still support indie comics, but I'll be doing so physically from now on.
Angrybot9000 3 months ago
I don’t care what you do there in backwater US, but if you want to legally provide services in EUROPE you must follow the law:
Your rights under EU law:
• Directive (EU) 2019/770 on digital content and services grants EU consumers the right to receive what they paid for, and that digital services must match what was promised at the time of sale.
• there’s a substantial downgrade of what I paid for (e.g., access to specific publisher content that was advertised as included), and there are grounds to:
• Request a partial refund.
• Cancel subscription and get a proportional refund.
Also, under the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, misleading omissions or abrupt downgrades without notice can be challenged.
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@IReadComics: feel free to message myself or @Kevin with the books you were reading and lost access to and we’ll comp you with them for unlock for free 🙇‍♂️
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@ThunderingIcyFish: yeah I agree there’s a bunch of things we could have done better here - my sincerest apologies and I guarantee we will do better in the future! 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@RunningFleetingPrinter: happy to comp access to the books you were in the middle of reading that you lost access to - please reach out to contact@GlobalComix.com
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@CodeCapybara: yea that’s kinda the case. for future we will have heads up and leaving soon notices! 🙇‍♂️ my apologies here
Christopher admin supporter 3 months ago
@AliE: not at all - the total amount of books available in subscription has not changed since the launch of direct unlocks; it just happened to be that some books for DH were rotated out of sub (would have been anyhow, but been completely unavailable entirely) at the same time as direct sales were launched.
moving forward you can expect much better notification and display of books rotating out 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️
my apologies!
CodeCapybara 3 months ago
@Christopher: Thanks for the explanation!
HuntingExoticChopstick 3 months ago
hero
Angrybot9000 3 months ago
@PursuingVariegatedCleric: PUH-LEASE. Standing up for scammers are we, simp?
They illicitly downgraded an annual service and reacted ONLY because of the backlash.
Keep simping for some extra crumbs, maybe a “complementary issue with an apology” - while they restrict access to your paid services mid-issue.
GlobalComix have violated EU law on digital products, but you keep polishing those shoes real good.
Angrybot9000 3 months ago
@Christopher: @Christopher: so what, I have to shine your boots too now so you’ll throw me some crumbs from the total volume you’ve resiricted unlawfully?
Maybe the rest of that Resident Alien issue you cut my access from mid-way?
You’re supposed to not apply these retroactively, and not break the law.
Angrybot9000 3 months ago
@Christopher: so what, I have to shine your boots too now so you’ll throw me some crumbs from the total volume you’ve resiricted unlawfully?
Maybe the rest of that Resident Alien issue you cut my access from mid-way?
You’re supposed to not apply these retroactively, and not break the law.
AliE 3 months ago
@Christopher: Thanks for the response. Honestly I regret my subscription purchase. I have 9 months remaining so I'm going to try and remain optimistic but currently I see too many issues with this subscription as is and the direction it's heading to make renewing worthwhile.
Palooza421 3 months ago
Been recommending to everyone I know but not anymore. Having a subscription service that has content still locked behind a pay wall is just dirty. It is clear the direction Globalcomix is going. It was nice knowing you. oh well, I'm sure someone will fill the gap.
HuntingExoticChopstick 3 months ago
bat man
morpheus 3 months ago
Cancelling my subscription for the time being. I can already imagine from the way this was handled and the responses that this will become more of the norm pretty soon. I'm not paying for a subscription to also have to pay extra to finish a series. The 10% discount for members doesn't justify my purchase. This is obviously the beginning of a new direction. I'll wait and see if this doesn't devolve into yet another digital bookstore like Amazon before I delete my account altogether. In the meantime, I'll enjoy using my library card FOR FREE knowing I won't get screwed out of finishing a series because the publisher decided to try and squeeze extra money from readers when they already have dozens of sales channels available and more than enough money to afford having the books on a subscription platform. I have been a subscriber for over a year and I've loved it so far. I hope this platform has a return to form in the future.
SovereignRanger 3 months ago
this is sad. I agree with the all the complaints. I will keep my subscription because I really like global comix but, if they are considering locking many comics despite having a gold subscription that is supposed to allow me to read any comic I want here. I will sadly have to leave.
But I will be optimistic with you guys.
ClimbingGreyArcher 3 months ago
Am I only one happy I don’t have to buy Dark Horse comics from Kindle? I don’t need guided view. I know how to read comics. I’ve read them for a long time. To me it sounds like they are trying their best to remedy the situation. Again at least we do not have to go through kindle.
Cducharme 3 months ago
Saying more paywalls like it’s a good thing from a consumer perspective doesn’t make it so.
ClimbingGreyArcher 3 months ago
Adding paywalls is NOT a good thing and should be fixed. If I do buy new DH titles, I do NOT want to make my purchases from amazon.
SovereignRanger 3 months ago
@Cducharme: Hello Cducharme, that’s very true. At least they are doing it with dark horse only. Yet, I hope they don’t start doing it with the other publishers
SovereignRanger 3 months ago
@ClimbingGreyArcher: Dark horse is in bankruptcy. That’s why dark horse is doing this
Cducharme 3 months ago
@SovereignRanger: It's funny because if this were something that small creators were able to sign up for and have rather than... the fifth largest company in comics (though admittedly their parent company is screwing them very hard, but the fact they're corporate enough for a parent company means I have way less sympathy) like I know small creators lose money keeping books on here and it's a hope folks will buy/crowdfund directly later that gives them anything. So some direct revenue for the small guys? Hell yeah even though that _would_ hurt me personally the most given my tastes I would welcome and be in the comments trying to convince folks this is a good thing.
But for a company owned by another company bought for $400m+? Meh.
SovereignRanger 3 months ago
@Cducharme: I agree you. This is so sad. I honestly will not renew my subscription if they do this with other publishers. They should have removed dark horse and just keep with the pubslihers that allow full reading through a subscription
ClimbingGreyArcher 3 months ago
@SovereignRanger: I haven’t seen any evidence DH was in bankruptcy. I know their profits have always been much smaller than the big 2 publishers.
Ace1193 3 months ago
i am a gold member an not letting me read locked stuff after a while im lost this needs to change
Buragon 3 months ago
Instead of locking previously available books they should have added missing books and charge for them only, if they wanted to have full library… I prefer reading less series with subscription only, rather than reading more series but only halfway without paying. Please reconsider and I hope rest of the publishers won’t do this.
Buragon 3 months ago
@Buragon: I agree with others and I’ll also leave if this becomes the norm, and I’m sure lots of other people will too sadly
SkeletalDumpsterFire 3 months ago
Okay, I don't see any problem with having the ability to have some comics be purchased individually. If it stopped there, I would have no problem.
What gets on my nerves, however, is the fact that this is actively locking shit behind a pay wall for GOLD subscribers. Y'know, the guys who should be able to access EVERYTHING?! And you're locking comics that were previously accessible, too?!
This is some serious scummy stuff, and I'm actively considering unsubscribing because of it. This service was actively great, but this decision could actively hurt its reputation in the long run.
Crap like this is what's making people go back to physical media. Even as someone who isn't a physical media purist, I'd much rather purchase every Hellboy comic on paperback than have to do this sort of thing.
ClimbingGreyArcher 3 months ago
@Cducharme: I am always on the side of creators getting paid for their work. Seems that too many corporations are doing their best to pay them as little as possible and/or take too large of a percentage of their profits and/or to try to replace them with AI.
AggregatingMagentaWizard 2 months ago
I thought I’d wait and see before commenting and it’s much worse than I initially assumed. A lot of the DH series I was going to get around to have the first few editions available as part of my service, but the rest are behind a paywall. That means I would have to pay £20+ to finish a series, even though I’m a Gold member. Some are a lot more. This is throughout their most popular titles. I would have preferred it if a whole series was behind a paywall, but something else I was interested in had every issue available through my Gold membership. At least I could read some series without having to pay twice. This is the most cynical way of doing it and it takes away the excuse of those series being eventually taken away, as I don’t believe DH would have taken away so many series within such a short space of time.
There are other books by different publishers I’m currently reading and if they do the same my subscription will be promptly cancelled. I doubt I will be the last.
Angrybot9000 2 months ago
@PursuingVariegatedCleric: Â returning after a month just for that? Pathetic meatbag.