Chris Roberson and his collaborator Dennis Culver have announced their comic Edison Rex will now be available to new readers as a free webcomic while a Patreon funds the creation of the character’s further adventures.

Edison Rex, the story of the world’s greatest villain who appoints himself defender of Earth after defeating the world’s greatest hero, was launched as a digital-first series through Monkeybrain Comics on comiXology in July 2012, assisted by Stephen Downer on colors, John J. Hill on letters, and Dylan Todd on design. It garnered praise from critics and readers from the start. It’s a wonderful comic you should be checking out, especially now.

Now, four years after the series debuted, it is being relaunched as a free webcomic hosted by Hiveworks. The full series to date will be serialized on the site, with updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then will be continuing with all new material. In addition, the creators will be offering exclusive Patron-Only content, including early access to upcoming issues, behind the scenes looks at works in progress, annotations, commentary, and a shirt-of-the-month from the team’s Threadless Artist Shop.

Edison Rex #18 is now on sale through comiXology for just 99 cents.

This is the latest example of comic creators bucking the current sales and distribution model and exploring new avenues of publication.