dcuniverse.com
The comic book nerd community rejoiced as DC Universe launched a streaming service this past year. Massive hype surrounded the news of a network specifically for comic book nerds. The website promised exclusive fan content, shows, merchandise, and much more.
I am pleased to let you know that DC Universe lives up to the hype. It is everything we want in a streaming service. Although the service is still fairly new, it blows competitors out of the water. DC Universe delivers a combination of entertainment, resources, and news.
Website Design
The website is wonderful. The color scheme is black and white with pops of color. When landing on the home-page, it's a very cool experience for DC fans. The website emulates everything we love about the popular brand.
The main menu on DC Universe is easy to find and navigate. From left to right, your options are Movies & Tv, Comic Books, Community, News, Encyclopedia, and Shop. The search bar is located further to the right and can be easily accessed. Profile settings can be found by clicking on the user name or profile photo.
Another interesting feature on the website is the Do Not Sell My Personal Information function. This allows users to choose whether or not to allow ?cookies? to be collected, which helps sites create a more customized experience for users. DC Universe gives users the option to opt-out of cookies other than those necessary for site operation, which is a refreshing feature I would like more websites to adopt.
Content
The amount of content that DC Universe offers is great. Actual television and movies to stream are somewhat limited, but the site makes up for that with other means. One amazing feature is that you can read DC comic books through the website. Exclusive merchandise is also available to subscribers, and they have included an encyclopedia, which is arguably the most interesting part of the site.
The Department of Comic Books (DC) has released a number of new shows in recent months, with Teen Titans and Doom Patrol being notably praised. The animated Harley Quinn show is an equal mix of brilliant and hilarious, while nostalgic series such as Batman: The Animated Series and Young Justice are also attracting viewers. Some interesting movies that have been added recently are Constantine and Watchmen.
When I signed up for the monthly subscription, comic books were a surprising feature that blew me away. Though I didn't expect access to so many resources, you can search for your favorite characters or order them by genre to find something cool to read. Reading the comic is a flawless process that allows you to pinpoint exactly what page you would like to land on or turn page by page.
One of the shortcomings of the website was that there were few exclusive items for subscribers. The items offered tended to be expensive and had poor quality control.
On the other hand, the encyclopedia is very helpful! It is categorized strategically and very easy to use. It makes catching up on your favorite characters so simple. It's nice not to have to rely on a fan-made wiki to provide information. In DC Universe's case, all of the material is canon and from the comic giants themselves.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop version of this streaming website is very well designed. There are no negatives that I can think of in terms of design. There is a nice large slideshow banner at the top of the page right beneath the menu. It shows featured shows, news, and comics. Scrolling down the page is easy.
The mobile browser version of the website is a scaled-down version of the desktop. However, the animations look much nicer on phones for some reason. Gliding down the website to view everything it has to offer is a neat experience. The mobile browser version may be the best way to view the site. The top menu is slightly different, but otherwise, it is exactly the same as everything in the original place.
The mobile application is a pleasure to use. It uses a menu at the bottom, and the slideshow dimensions are slightly different, but the same features are used. No issues are easily recognizable from any version of using this streaming service. The favorite for me was the mobile browser version.
Positives
There are many great benefits to using DC Universe. One significant advantage is the affordable price per month. Normally, it costs $7.99 per month, but if a good sale is available, the cost drops to only $5.99 per month. This savings is incredible given the amount of content available on DC Universe. Many other premium websites charge the same amount, but don't offer as many valuable extra features as DC Universe does.
The additional comic book material available to read is an excellent option. The comic books range from the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age all the way up to the current Rebirth volumes. After reading your favorite new comic book, check out the awesome resources the site has to offer. The encyclopedia is a very interesting feature. Learn more than ever about your favorite characters. The two features make the subscription fee more than worth it.
The exclusive content on the streaming service makes viewers feel like part of a special club. The best part of the streaming service is video content. The video and audio qualities are superb, as well. Seeing Harley Quinn and other exclusive shows are definitely what keeps users coming back for more. The quality of their exclusive series is unbelievable. It is a bit of a downer that the content has been somewhat slow being produced, but since the shows are so great, I'm not complaining.
Negatives
I do not have much to say about the negatives about DC Universe. If I had to be very picky about it, I would mention that the video library is small. Although there are many shows and movies to watch, there is much from the DC Universe still missing.
Another downside to the store is its merchandise. The exclusive merchandise is not as exclusive as it claims to be. Even if it were, the material choices do not make for a great product. They look very cheap and overpriced.
Improvements Needed
Adding more content to the digital library would be the biggest improvement that could be made. In terms of video content, there is a low number of shows and it is clear that DC Universe values quality over quantity, which is not a bad thing. However, quantity is somewhat lacking and needs attention.
Other possible improvements for the club would be to create exclusive merchandise for members, such as hiring an artist to create a print piece, partnering with a big brand like Funko Pop or Loungefly to produce exclusive items, or developing a more comprehensive retail strategy that incorporates exclusive merch.
Summary
Overall, the DC Universe streaming service is a wonderful way to enjoy your favorite characters and stories. This review contains mostly positive observations. If there are any negative aspects to this service, they will be very difficult to find.
The website design is wonderful. DC has used the perfect combination of modern clean lines and creativity to create a site that is perfect for streaming videos. Video playback is very smooth and switching back and forth between videos is easy. I am looking forward to watching this streaming service grow and do amazing things!