I’ve been a comic book collector for about 10 years. I have a closet filled with long boxes stuffed to the max with bagged-and-boarded titles that I’ve loved through the years. While nothing beats the feeling of thumbing through 44 pages of glossy print comic books, I also love to sit down with my iPad to read the digital version, especially for comics that are out of print or hard to find.
Chunky Comic Reader Free Try an app that makes your comics look great, makes reading them a pleasure, and takes all the friction out of importing and managing them.
Today, we’ve got a list of the best apps for comic book lovers. I did not include any readers by the majors because those are obvious. This list digs a bit deeper into comic fandom with DRM-free readers, manga finders, games, comic creation apps, and more.
Comics by ComiXology
I know I said I wasn’t going to include comic readers from the majors, but I can’t talk about the subject without including this app. It seriously is the go-to place for buying titles from DC, Marvel, IDW, Disney, and more. You really can’t be a digital comic buyer without having this app in your arsenal. If you are just getting into reading comic books, ComiXology also features a wide variety of free first issue titles so you can test the waters to find out what you want to get into. This app is available for free.
Download windows reader for windows 8. Please also note that TAA compliance is not mandatory for all government agencies, so IOGEAR also offers a similar non-TAA compliant version of some products in order to provide lower pricing when TAA compliance is not required. Additionally, several of these products are already listed on the GSA Approved Products List so government contractors, distributors and buying offices may refer to the following APL numbers listed below. Government purchase contracts, especially those for the Department of Defense, generally stipulate a product be TAA compliant in order to be considered for purchase. All of IOGEAR’s TAA compliant products meet the General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule requirements for government procurement.
Comic Zeal
This app is, hands-down, the best comic reader for all of your DRM-free titles. You can import your entire collection via Wi-Fi, DropBox, iCloud Drive, AirDrop (OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 only) and iTunes file sharing. Once imported, you can organize your comics any way you like. The app automatically sorts comics into series so it is easier to find what you are looking for. Plus, you can move series inside others, create dividers, reorder comics, and create reading lists. You can even set locks on an entire series so your young ‘uns can read My Little Pony while you keep Kick-Ass under lock and key. This app is available for $4.99.
Manga Rocks
Fans of Japanese comics can delight in the ability to download tens of thousands of manga titles in the palm of their hands. This app generates digital content from MangaReader, MangaFox, and MangaEden with more than 10,000 books to choose from. You can read as much as you want while connected to Wi-Fi, but you can only download one book at a time for offline reading. For an additional in-app purchase of $4.99, you can download as many titles as you want for offline reading. This app is available for free.
Madefire Comics & Motion Books
Gone are the days of boring old stationary comic panels. With digital technology, you can bring your favorite super heroes to life, right on the pages of the book. Motion comics add to the adventure by including sound effects (Wiff! Bam! Pow!), music, 360-degree viewing angles within a panel, and characters flying in from off of the page. It isn’t quite a movie experience, but it turns your comics into action. This app includes traditional comics from the majors and a few independent distributors, like IDW, Top Cow, Oni Press, and more. Plus, you can read motion comics from your favorite super heroes, like Batman, Superman, Transformers, and even My Little Pony. This app is available for free.
Comic Chameleon
The kids these days are all getting into web comics. Web comics may not be collector’s items 20 years in the future, but they still have the unique and interesting style of independent comic books. This app brings together the best online daily, weekly, and intermittent comic strips in one convenient location. Access archived comics from days gone by without having to pay up to read content. Archives are organized chronologically with thumbnail previews. Swipe across the screen to read the next strip in a series. Find out what’s new with the notification tab. Read nearly 40 of the most popular web comics series around. This app is available for free.
Official Comic-Con App
You can’t consider yourself a true comic book fan until you’ve attended at least one convention. The king of all cons, Comic-Con International, takes place in San Diego every summer. If you are willing to make the dangerous trek to Southern California this July, be sure to have the official app at your side. It includes event schedules, a map of the convention center with a floor plan of the exhibitor hall, a list of special guests, detailed information on events, and more. You’ll have to wait until it gets closer to Comic-Con to get new info updates, but you can still download the app now to be ready for the big day. This app is available for free.
The Walking Dead: The Game
One of the most popular independent comic books was made into one of the most popular cable television shows, which was then developed into one of the most popular iOS games, which you can experience the first episode of both the first and second season for free. Fans of the original comic by Robert Kirkman will enjoy the storyline and writing style of this game. Fans of the television series will enjoy the adventure. Fans of mobile gaming will appreciate the unique game mechanics. It is fun for everyone. Not really, though. It is rated for mature gamers due to graphic violence and strong language. The first episode of season one and season two are available for free.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Chunky Comics
If you’ve always wanted to see who would win in a fight, Superman or Batman, now is your chance. This combat game lets you fight the entire DC universe with a vast array of both super heroes and villains. Pit The Flash against Shazam or Green Arrow against Green Lantern. Unlock new heroes to add to your roster as you battle in three-on-three combat rounds. As your heroes fight, they will learn new moves and become stronger. Go online and fight against real opponents to see who has the toughest team. This game is available for free.
Procreate
Every comic book fan, at least once in his or her life, has dreamed of becoming a famous writer or artist. If you fancy yourself a master of the art of illustration, this app will make your digital dreams come to life. The iPad version features 120 brushes, advanced layering, a realistic brush stroke creator, and much, much more. The recently launched iPhone version, Procreate Pocket, uses the same 64-bit Silica engine, advanced layering, and comes with 12 brushes with the ability to import custom brushes from the Internet. You can begin working on the iPhone and transfer your project to the iPad to finish the details. The iPhone version costs $2.99 and the iPad version costs $5.99.
Comic Life 3
Once you’ve created the artwork for your own comic, transfer your images to this template app to create a full-fledged comic book, complete with panels. Or, if you are less of an artist and more of a wordsmith, you can take pictures of your friends acting out scenes from your super hero story and then transform them into a comic book. No drawing talent required. You can choose from dozens of templates and add filters to create that illustrated look. Add word and thought balloons to fill out the pages. Use smart shapes to add objects and remove unwanted backgrounds with the Instant Alpha tool. This app is available for $4.99.
Are you a comic book reader? What is your favorite digital reading app?
Comic books as a medium seem tailor-made for tablets, even if the timeline doesn’t precisely add up. But there are a surprising amount of comic reading applications meant for old-fashioned desktop machines, too. This stuff comes in handy for gadgets that blur the lines, like the Microsoft Surface, or for someone who’s amassed a large collection of DRM-free comic book files.
MComix: Windows, Linux
If you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use comic reader with enough features to give you some extra bells and whistles, MComix should probably be your first stop. It’s free and open source, based on the older and now abandoned Comix reader project, regularly updated for Windows and Linux. If it had a macOS version, we might just be able to end this article right here.
Free pdf reader and editor for mac. You can scan printed documents, have the text converted into searchable format, and save the resulting document as a PDF.
The interface has a basic library function, but it’s easier to simply open your files (CBR, CBZ, and PDF, among more pedestrian image formats) directly from your computer’s file explorer. The reading view makes it easy to find your page with thumbnails along the left side, and various fit modes along with a full screen view are handy in both button and hotkey flavors. The reader supports double-page views to best emulate comic reading, and a right-to-left mode for those who prefer manga to western-style comics.
The download comes as a standalone package, so you don’t even need to install anything, though you might want to associate some of the more common comic file types with MComix soon after trying it out.
YACReader: Windows, macOS, Linux
If you live a multi-OS lifestyle and you prefer some cross-platform consistency, YACReader is probably your best bet. It supports all of the common file types and archives, with a focus on building up an extensive and well-organized library of personal comics. The application will automatically fetch tags and issue data from the ComicVine database, and those who are keen on sharing with friends can install the UI-free server version to remotely host comics on iOS.
The application is available on Windows in both installer and portable flavors, plus 64-bit macOS and various Linux distro versions. The interface itself is a bit minimal for my taste, but it quickly disappears if you’re reading in full screen anyway. Sadly, though YACReader plays nice with all three major desktop platforms and can remotely serve files to iOS, there’s no Android client as of yet.
Comicrack: Windows
Though ComicRack comes in Android and iOS flavors, it’s Windows-only on the desktop. Which is weird, because it’s one of the more technical and analytical options out there. The tabbed interface supports reading multiple books at once, and its double-pane main view focuses on the user’s library or standard file browsing more than some of the other programs on this list. But for the comic enthusiast who’s serious about managing a large collection, this could be the best option.
Once you dig into ComicRack, you see it’s a little more forgiving than it appears at first glance, with a double- and triple-column option and a handy all-in-one page view. Double-tapping the F button will switch from standard fullscreen view to a minimalist windowed look — good for reading while you keep an eye on something else on your computer. It also functions as the most feature-rich viewer when used as a pure file manager.
SimpleComic: macOS
SimpleComic uses the fluid, and integrated user interface that was popular with mid-aughts OS X design to create what’s probably the simplest comic reader around. Though it supports all the common archive formats and includes the usual bells and whistles like double-page display and right-to-left reading, it does so with a minimal interface that will make you nostalgic for a Steve Jobs software demo. Usb and sd card reader for new mac cosmetics. It’s probably the simplest and best-looking item on this list (with no particular care for libraries or tagging), so it’s a pity that the developer has only released a macOS version.
MangaMeeya: Windows
While you can certainly use MangaMeeya for western comics, it’s designed specifically for Japanese-style manga. This focus extends to more than just the right-to-left default page layout: the image display includes various tools that make black-and-white scans more visible and legible on computer screens, something that isn’t typically a concern for full color graphic novels. That specialization does seem to be a bit of a detriment for those looking for wider image file support or library tools, though — you’ll have to keep your files organized manually in Windows Explorer. On that note, it’s only available for Windows, more’s the pity.
Best Comic Reader For Mac
Comic CBR, CBZ Viewer: Chrome
The Chrome Web Store isn’t exactly littered with dedicated comic viewers, but this seems to be the best among a very short field of contenders. The minimal interface can load up CBR or CBZ archive files wither from your personal Google Drive account or on your local machine. The super-simple interface offers one- or two-page views with standard or right-to-left reading, with the fullscreen option controlled by the browser itself. Like many Chrome extensions, this one is supported by advertising, and there’s no way to pay to get rid of the web-based ads. The extension will work on Chrome OS devices and more standard desktops, but with the options laid out above, there’s really no reason to use it on anything but a Chromebook.
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