Am I missing anything? Why hasn't there been any real alternatives? DC and Marvel both going for closed garden approaches for offering relatively affordable digital reading options but if you don't care about subscriptions and just bought things on sale, it has been pretty bad.

Comixology on Kindle has some improvements over the main app but...

• Indie Publishers aren't even bothering to post-sales anymore. EuroComics never go on sale now either.
• No Shopping Cart (Which I understand is by design but I also acknowledge it's shitty design)
• Singles never go on sale now.
• I don't care for how Amazon immediately pushes buying a new book the moment you finish reading something.

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Some benefits I do like are

• Kindle Unlimited might not be region-locked, IDK I haven't used it but for non-US folks that's a way to read stuff.
• Downloading a sample would usually get you an issue or two that you can read for free for TPBs, so that's a good way to check out a new run. For stuff like Omnis you can even end up reading up to 3 or 4 issues before the Sample pages run out!
• I haven't had any issues downloading on Kindle on my phone unlike with the old Comixology app.
• Setting up your own Folders / Reading Orders, still not entirely as convenient as DC Reading Lists as you default to the current book's next issue but there's less actions needed now to get to the next issue if you have individual issues. (Made meaningless by singles not going on Sale though)