Over the weekend Marvel announced that it was offering free digital copies of over 700 of its first issues for a limited time — but the response was so overwhelming the company's digital distribution partner Comixology has had to call off the promotion. In a blog post, Comixology CEO David Steinberger writes that the service — which powers both the Marvel comics app and its own standalone app called Comics — wasn't able to keep up with the demand from those trying to download the free issues.

As a result, not only have customers been unable to take advantage of the Marvel promotion, but they haven't been able to buy other titles through Comixology either. CNET reports that several publishers haven't been able to sell any of the books through the app since the initial server crash occurred.

In order to deal with the situation, the Marvel promotion has put on hold, but Steinberger reassures readers that they will still be able to take advantage of the offer by signing up on the Comixology website with a special form. However, as of this writing, the webpage Steinberger links to doesn't load either. It's unclear when the sign-up page — which will deliver updates on the situation to customers — will be live. In the meantime, however, we were able to purchase and download titles through Comixology's Comics app.