Some of my earliest memories involved my uncle and his comic book collection. I remember his cabinet that was covered in images of superheroes. I remember looking through his comics, seeing unfamiliar characters, and asking, "Good, bad, or otherwise?" Because his comics were in polypropylene bags, I didn't read them, but I loved listening to him recount the stories. My first comic book was X-Men #169, "This Angel Fallen," and in our basement are four boxes of the comics I still have after selling part of my collection to finance our honeymoon. One of the boxes, though, is marked, "Not for sale," and will give me memories to read when my life someday slows down.

But so many great stories have been told since I had to stop collecting, and so many had been told before I started. Marvel has made many back issues available through CD-ROM libraries, making it possible to read those old stories that, where they can be found, are forever wrapped in plastic. Every one of those CD and DVD volumes is on my wishlist.

But now, Marvel has announced another electronic distribution format for their comics: online subscriptions. For $60 annually or $10 per month, you can go online and read 2500 comics, with 250 available initially for free, and 20 new ones available each week. With comic prices hovering around $2 per issue in print, this is a steal, provided the Digital Comics Unlimited site interface is usable. New comics on the site will be six months older than what you'll find at your local comic shop, but if you're just looking for a good read, you'll find it there. The first 250 are available now, and having tried it out, my only caveat is that my 1024x768 screen is too small. Yes, it has a magnifying glass tool, but thaat's just not ideal. Check it out. It's free, no registration required. And if your fingers are a bit sticky because you're curled up with your laptop, an online comic, and a bag of green grapes, you won't have to worry about "ruining your investment." Collectors won't like this. People who like to read comics will.

Excelsior!