diff --git a/dosage b/dosage
index 5a0cd5612..a18466db8 100755
--- a/dosage
+++ b/dosage
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def setupOptions():
     parser.add_argument('-m', '--modulehelp', action='store_true', help='display help for comic modules')
     parser.add_argument('-t', '--timestamps', action='store_true', help='print timestamps for all output at any info level')
     parser.add_argument('-o', '--output', action='append', dest='handler', choices=events.getHandlerNames(), help='sets output handlers for downloaded comics')
+    parser.add_argument('-p', '--parallel', action='store', type=int, default=1, help='fetch comics in parallel. Specify the number of connections')
     parser.add_argument('--adult', action='store_true', help='confirms that you are old enough to view adult content')
     # used for development testing prev/next matching
     parser.add_argument('--dry-run', action='store_true', help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
diff --git a/dosagelib/director.py b/dosagelib/director.py
index f18593536..474c497fe 100644
--- a/dosagelib/director.py
+++ b/dosagelib/director.py
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ def getComics(options):
         for scraperobj in getScrapers(options.comic, options.basepath, options.adult, options.multimatch):
             jobs.put(scraperobj)
         # start threads
-        num_threads = 1# XXX max(1, min(10, jobs.qsize()))
+        num_threads = max(1, min(options.parallel, jobs.qsize()))
         for i in range(num_threads):
             t = ComicGetter(options)
             threads.append(t)