ComiXology is a shadow of its former self. Guided view was finally added to the Kindle, but only for newer comics, not the ones Amazon was doing before purchasing ComiXology. No more free comics that I can find unless you’re a Kindle or ComiXology Unlimited subscriber, which means technically you’re still paying for it. And you can’t download a version of the comic you can read on your computer, like a PDF file. It’s a shame because it was the most innovative way to read digital comics on a computer or in the app. I still have the stuff I picked up and the occasional Free Comic Book Day offering and that’s it. It’s a better way to find physical comics collected or if you don’t have a comic store for floppies.
So what are the GOOD offerings out there? I still prefer physical comics. They’re easier to read, don’t need the internet (just a good enough light source), and there’s just something about physical media in reading material that can’t be replicated digitally. Still, why deny myself something when digital is the best or only option? I still enjoy webcomics, and a digital comic is still as good even if the experience isn’t the same. A good digital comic site can still give a good experience, right?
There are five comics sites, not counting what’s still in my Comixology/Kindle library, that I go to. One is not on the list because it’s one of those…legally questionable scan sites. If it’s out of print and not available anywhere else legally, which is how I’m doing the Ultraverse comics, and not costing anybody money, or if I need to do some research and can’t run out to get the comic, of if I just need a quick scan even if I own it, it’s a good option. Still, I’m not sure I can give you the dot com to read all comics that way. Just be careful of other sites that are ad heavy and possibly doing something to your computer.
I can tell you what the other four are without problem, however. Two I’ve mentioned often because I’ve been using them for “Yesterday’s” Comic reviews. The other two I haven’t mentioned for various reasons, but I’ll tell you now where you can find some great comics.
Comic Book Plus
I link to this one every time I do a public domain comic review with a comic from that site. Another option is the Digital Comic Museum but they seem to share scans. (Willingly or not I couldn’t tell you.) The “Plus” comes from all of the other media they offer: old radio shows, international comics, old story magazines and pulp stories…all for free. Well, you do have to get an account to download, but as far as I know that’s free as well. They do take donations to keep the site running.
There’s no app as far as I can tell. You can only read it in a browser. Through cookies it will remember where you left off in case you want to return to it later. Both sites are highly curated based on year (Comic Book Plus even has a “virtual newsstand” which is helping with the Friday Golden Age reviews), by publisher, and even type. Fans make compilations of stories from the anthologies, so if you just want all the Blue Beetle stories from the Fox years, there might be a compilation for that. Most scans are from the best available copy of the comic, though sometimes it comes from fiche or is missing pages due to not having them available. There’s also the problem of comics taken out of public domain because DC has a lot of lawyers and no understanding how public domain works, or some stories in an anthology (Dick Tracy for example) are still claimed by the character’s rights holders and they can’t put it up.
The interface is easy, but it’s with a browser in mind. You can go back and forth between pages and then move to the next comic rather easy. It’s my go-to for the Golden Age and pre-DC reviews for a reason.
Drive Thru Comics
Part of a series of sites that include Drive Thru RPG and Storytellers Vault, this doesn’t have anything from the top two publishers unless you count some RPG sourcebooks. It’s also the only one with no online reading option. You download a PDF file and read it that way. So there’s no interface to show off.
On the other hand, smaller but popular publishers like Top Cow, Dark Horse, Dynamite, and Valiant do have options up there, though with Dark Horse’s new owners who knows how long that will be. There are a bunch of comics you have to pay for but free and “pay what you want” options are up there. There’s also a lot of indie publishers as you can easily sell indie projects through Drive Thru. I don’t know how that part works as I have nothing to sell at the moment, but it is a good place to find comics you’ve never heard of, curated by publisher and genre as well as price. You can even find comics from non-American publishers. There are also comic based podcasts, art books, and more for your listening and viewing pleasure.
I have a few more comics still and they offer new comics every week at various price ranges plus weekly deals. It’s worth checking out and one of my favorite sites. The other two are relatively new compared to these two and offer more online reading options but these first two are regular visits for me.
Globalcomix
I heard about this one when they were sponsoring Casually Comics on YouTube. It’s one of two sites trying to replace what we lost with ComiXology. Like Drive Thru, there are small publishers, indie publishers, and international publishers. There are also fan comics. There’s a surprising number of Ben 10 related fancomics for example. However, we also have Marvel and DC comics for the first time on this list since ComiXology, and there are free sample pages to see if you want to buy a comic.
The best part is we have panel to panel mode, their version of guided view. Alternately you can go one page at a time and zoom around at your leisure. Choose your preferred reading experience and there you go. With free and paid for options you have a lot of comics at your disposal. You will need an account but it’s free.
The library is the only challenge. Figuring out how to access the controls to add to and curate your collection’s library and creating your own lists could be a bit more intuitive since there’s no instructions, but it’s a good system once you finally do figure it out. It’s a bit easier on the app, but sadly not much. It’s the only problem with this site and I’ll be going through my library for reviews soon now that my physical comic reviews are done. I need to dig through the previews and fan comics to find regular publisher and self-published comics. There is a “gold” option so you can download and get some comics for free, and some indie creators who publish in something closer to a “webtoon” format but with the panel by panel reading option. I also wish the comics I’m following would send a collected update instead of each one having it’s own email. It piles up and annoys me. Drive Thru does this to a lesser extent but every Wednesday Globalcomix makes too long an email feed.
Neon Ichiban
The newest kid on the block, but created by the OGs. The creators of ComiXology went on to make DSTLRY, which as we’ve discussed in the past is a rather odd system of trading digital comics and getting more money for the creators. A worthy goal but not the way they were doing it. As far as I know it still exists but I haven’t looked into it since that article.
Neon Ichiban is closer to the old ComiXology. Still no downloads, at least not with out a credit card for some reason. There was a point where you couldn’t even read the free offerings without one, but customer complaint thankfully fixed that. There is no app and must be read through a browser. There’s still some of the DSTLRY functionality to it but it’s not a requirement to deal with in order to read your comics. There’s also only a small number of publishers compared to the rest of this list: DC, Marvel, DSTLRY the publishing side, Dark Horse, IDW, Legendary, Titan Comics, Udon Studios, Mad Cave, Dynamite, a few others I haven’t heard of and surprisingly Kodansha. Globalcomix has more manga than that, but it is one of the bigger publishers, so it’s a good grab. No other publishers or indie comics, though.
Since these are the guys who created it, of course there’s a panel by panel mode, though it doesn’t let you zoom in on a panel that’s a bit long for the screen. That’s something they need to fix. The controls are easy to figure out and so is getting into the library. Hopefully things improve but what they’re starting out with is still pretty good. I’ll start reviewing from this library tomorrow and in Wednesdays until I run out.
If I had to choose a favorite experience I’d have to go with Globalcomix, but all of them have some good reading options and will be the source of my comic reviews going forward unless I decide to revisit all the comics in my physical collection that never had individual reviews (not counting what ended up in Scanning My Collection–I mean the old weekly review bundles) or somehow manage to get new comics like Free Comic Book Day. Still these are the sites I recommend checking out for some new comics you never heard of, testing other comics, or filling your storage device with more reading experiences. You might find your new favorite and head out to get a physical version, or if this is your only option still get your monthly comic fix.
BW Media Spotlight 