What would home TV-binge-watching be without Netflix?

Most of us can hardly remember what it was like when we either had to buy or go down to our corner rental store.  These subscription based services with digital delivery are a basic part of our mass media consumption and it is expected for most people.  Comics have been a little slow in coming with this model, but Hoopla has really taken us to the next step.

For those new to it, Hoopla is an app that allows you access to thousands of movies, books, and, of course, comics from your computer or tablet.  This is the first service to really do this with comics, but it was debatable how universal this would actually become.  Marvel already had Marvel Unlimited, and it did not have the indie juggernaut Image yet.  Image Comics leads the non-superhero, more literary comics, which are much more poised to be read in non-traditional ways such as digitally or in trade.

Image has now announced that it will join Hoopla and has already begun uploading entire series like The Walking Dead and the Image classic Spawn.  This is just the start for Image, and, of course, you won’t be able to get new titles, but this is going to be great for back reading.  The addition may actually mark the next big step for Hoopla, whose online library “borrow” format may be the wave of the future.