SXSW: Marvel's Free Comics Announcement Nearly Crashes ComiXology

Following Marvel's announcement at South by Southwest in the last hour that they will be giving away 700 free #1 issues of their comics for the next three days, digital comics retailer ComiXology has experienced "heavier than normal server traffic" which has led to many fans being unable to login to their accounts. Users attempting to access the free comics have been receiving the error message "The website encountered an error while retrieving https://www.comixology.com/Marvel-Free-First-Issues/comics-collection/1001. It may be down for maintenance or configured incorrectly," but ComiXology urged patience on their Twitter account, saying that it's just increased traffic, not an actual crash. Along with the image at left, they said, "Okay seeing some heavy server traffic after that last announcement… Just like @MuchCoffee predicted." Fans attempting to access the issue via Marvel's digital comics website directly got the same error. So, maybe grab yourself a sandwich and try back sometime between now and March 12.