The Starbucks Digital Network is a clever feature implemented by the powerhouse coffee company to show it’s willingness to roll with the punches of a digital age. Launching last fall, the SDN is a content system that allows it’s customers to access various channels of entertainment and news on their laptops,  smartphones, and tablet devices all for the awesome price of free while under a Starbucks roof.

In April Marvel Comics will join the Entertainment channel, and customers can sip their caramel macchiato while accessing Marvel’s full digital library.

On the Entertainment Channel, watch for the upcoming arrival of the Marvel Universe as Super Heroes, mutants, aliens, armor-clad super-geniuses and thunder gods join forces with the Starbucks Digital Network on Apr. 23, 2011. Known for engrossing stories and a library of more than 8,000 characters, Marvel Comics gives Starbucks customers unlimited, free access to its full library of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine and others await to captivate as customers explore the comic realm and imagine fighting villains with a cup of coffee in hand.

So what does this mean for the parties involved? Well, on the Marvel end of things, this means that they will bring their digital content to a lot of people with minimal effort. This kind of temporary access could lead to more subscriptions of their digital services for those of us who don’t have time to hang out at Starbucks all day. And on the Starbucks end of things, this could add a new dynamic to their stores. Imagine a world full of coffee shops where pretentious ass-hats who like to talk politics and economics are drowned out by the din of fanboys arguing about who’s the superior X-Men villain: Apocalypse or Magneto? If that ain’t utopia I don’t know what is.

Marvel launches on the Starbucks Digital Network’s Entertainment Channel on April 23rd.

[Source] Comic List