Comic book mainstay Marvel, home to Spider Man, Captain America and X-Men, is set to adopt a simultaneous print and digital publishing model, Gizmodo reported today. Marvel has had apps for Android and iOS for a while now, but there has been a delay of weeks between the paper copies hitting the stores and readers getting their versions delivered digitally. If this turns out to be correct, the move resolves a major source of annoyance for users of the apps, and brings Marvel into line with its major rival, DC Comics. According to the report, the publisher plans to have its entire range sold under this new model by March 2012, excluding the Stephen King and MAX ranges.

Another concept also reported to be on its way is a free digital copy with every paper comic purchased. This is set to be piloted with Avenging Spider Man 1, with more to follow in the near future.