Comic books are magic.
While part of the magic of a comic book cannot be digitally reproduced, digital comics are still a great way to experience both modern comics and the many decades of comic history, without having to track down and organize dozens of physical books just to follow a story arc. Also, since this is a video game site, I imagine many of us here have a special relationship with both physical comic books and their virtual adaptations on screen and in licensed video games (or in non-licensed but still awesome video games that focus on comics like Comix Zone). I figure this means we might be more likely to enjoy digital comic books in addition to their physical forms.
Tablets are probably the best ways to read digital comics, but computers (especially 2-in-1 folding laptops) and smartphones can give you access to just as much great content. Many digital comic services also have smartphone reading modes that automatically guide you through the story panel-by-panel, in case the idea of squinting at a full comic page on your phone gives you a headache. Grayscale e-readers (like Kobo, Nook, Kindle, etc.) are also particularly good for manga that was originally published in black and white. But if you’re just starting out, it can be hard to know how to find digital comics, especially from legal and reputable sources.
This list will show you different ways to legally access huge troves of comics by either paying per comic or signing up for a subscription, with some completely free content also available within these sources. I hope that this can be a good all-in-one resource for anyone who’s trying to get into digital comics, whether you’ve been reading comics all your life or are looking to read your very first book. You can trust that every reputable source on this list only serves up high quality, fully legal comics.
The Big Two in US Comics: DC and Marvel
While DC and Marvel each have several decades of history under their belt, they’ve made it pretty easy for anyone with a few bucks to spare to access that history… well, most of it, as long as it’s been digitized and made available, but these really do account for quite a hefty portion of each mega-catalog.
DC Universe Infinite is DC’s subscription service that gives you access to the vast majority of DC’s historical archive as well as ongoing series a few months after publication. There is also an “Ultra” option that gives you access to even more of the historical archive (with the “Ultra” section including a lot of the most classic material, such as Grant Morrison’s brilliant Arkham Asylum) as well as some physical goodies. Once you subscribe (as of this writing, $7.99/month or $74.99/year for the regular subscription, $119.99/year for the Ultra), you can read everything you have access to on whatever device you have, and your reading history will stay synced, which is nice for reading long arcs on different devices.
Marvel Unlimited is Marvel’s version of the above, with the main difference being that Marvel’s higher tier subscription ($99/year) only includes physical goodies and a store discount, meaning the regular subscription ($9.99/month or $69/year) gives you access to everything digital. It could in that way be considered “cheaper” than DC’s service (at least in terms of the annual offering), which requires the “Ultra” tier subscription for full access. Aside from that, you get the same deal with the subscription: read all the comics you want with syncing between your devices.
Both of these options offer 7-day free trials, although they both regularly offer longer free trials, or deals such as $1 for your first few months.
Other Options for US Comics
Drive Thru Comics is a great place to get DRM-free comics (see below for more info on DRM-free comics), but this means it has a somewhat limited catalog. However, the catalog still has a surprising amount of known creators and intellectual properties, and it’s also a great place to find new creators. Finally, Drive Thru Comics also has a lot of comics that are sold for free or “pay what you want”, meaning it’s a great place to build your collection no matter what your budget is.
IDW Comics is a single comics publisher, but they offer so many great series and have such a good reading app that they’re a no-brainer for inclusion in this list. Some of my favorites from IDW include Sonic the Hedgehog, Earthdivers, and Contropussy, while IDW also has popular franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Locke and Key, in addition to great indie comics. It can be slightly confusing finding the comics that are available digitally as opposed to the ones that are only available physically, but IDW Comics sells all sorts of great comics for $1.99 or $3.99 each. There is no subscription or anything like that.
Omnibus Comics is currently only for iOS, but I have my eye on it as a potential heavy hitter in the future, once it hits Android or at least has a web app. This looks to be the most likely platform to replace Comixology, which was basically killed by Amazon (which is why you should never give any of your hard-earned comic money to Amazon). It is a pay-per-issue/volume service which currently does not involve any subscriptions.
Feel free to comment with other options for US comics that I should add here.
Newspaper Comics
Go Comics is a one-stop shop for newspaper comics, whether you’re looking for archives of classics like Peanuts, The Boondocks, and Calvin and Hobbes, or looking to keep up with ongoing comics like Pearls Before Swine, La Cucaracha, and Phoebe and her Unicorn. They have a premium membership with a free trial, but as far as I know you can access pretty much everything (with ads) for free.
Feel free to comment with other options for newspaper comics that I should add here.
Webcomics
Even though I’ve been reading webcomics for years, this is a bit of a blind spot for me in terms of aggregators/apps collecting multiple series, especially when it comes to newer series from Gen Z creators or people making webcomics in different languages.
However, I can definitely recommend Tinyview as a great all-in-one service for series from a handful of very talented creators, including Fowl Language, They Can Talk, Lunarbaboon, Gemma, Rob Rogers’ political cartoons, and even Bite-Sized Archie. The site/app is free, but there is a subscription that kind of works like a donation system (in that you pay whatever you want), but which also unlocks “bonus panels” at the end of many comics… when you think about it, it’s not unlike how Sunday comic strips have historically been formatted so that they can be run with some content cut off for space.
I must also shout out The Nib, which has long been my favorite place for webcomics but which unfortunately shut down just this past summer. However, they still have their archives up, including free downloads of all 15 issues of The Nib Magazine (which were previously available as part of a subscription). That means this is still an invaluable free comics resource, especially if you’ve never dug into the archives.
Feel free to comment with other options for webcomics that I should add here.
Manga
This is a bit of a blind spot for me, but in terms of manga that is already known to Western audiences, I personally use Shonen Jump and VIZ Manga. There is a lot of overlap, but the subscription for VIZ Media ($1.99/month) includes content for a much larger range of target audiences than Shonen Jump’s ($2.99/month) overwhelming focus on the tastes of adolescent boys (as is suggested by the name). You can also buy books through these platforms if you prefer that over a subscription.
Manga Plus by Shueisha is another option for people who have a zero-dollar budget, as it is geared toward free readers by using some sort of unlock system.
Feel free to comment with other options for manga that I should add here.
Manhwa
This is even more of a blind spot for me than manga, but I believe that WEBTOON is a pretty solid place to start reading manhwa for free, though I have no idea what their monetization system is like… it seems to be some sort of coin-based unlock system similar to Manga Plus by Shuiesha (see above) rather than a subscription system or anything like that.
Feel free to comment with other options for manhwa that I should add here.
Franco-Belgian Comics/Bande Dessinée (BD)
This is another total blind spot for me, but Izneo seems like a great option. Although Izneo does have some English content, most of the content is in French, and it even seems to include French translations of both US comics and manga. It seems like Izneo allows readers to both buy books or subscribe for $11.29/month, but I’m not sure exactly how much of the catalog that subscription unlocks.
Feel free to comment with other options for BD that I should add here.
All of the above: Humble Bundles
Humble Book Bundles are maybe the single best place to build your DRM-free collection of US comics as well as many Central/Eastern European comics, manga, and even Franco-Belgian comics/bande dessinée (although often in English). Humble Bundle offers great bundles for charity that can sometimes seem too good to be true but are completely legitimate. You may also know Humble Bundle from their popular game bundles as well as their indie publishing label, Humble Games.
As of this writing, current offerings include a collection of Eerie comics from Dark Horse, a bundle of diverse manga from Saturday AM, and a collection of Assassin’s Creed books that also includes a number of comics. These are usually rotating on something like a monthly basis, so you should regularly be checking for comics bundles here to build your collection. I’ve gotten all sorts of great comics just by regularly checking for comics bundles here, including Lone Wolf and Cub manga, Neil Gaiman comic adaptations, and even Octavia Butler comic adaptations, just to name a few.
How Do You Open a .CBR or .CBZ File?
If you’ve gotten a comic from Drive Thru Comics or Humble Bundle and you’re wondering what the heck kind of program/app you need to read a .cbr or .cbz file, my favorite comic book reader for both computer and phone is currently CDisplayEx, which is free for both Windows and Android (although they do have a premium Android app as well, which I personally bought just to support their work).
I’m sure there’s a great option for iOS too but I currently don’t use an iOS device for comics so I can’t vouch for any; feel free to comment with other options for reading your own comic files that I should add here.
What Does DRM or DRM-Free Mean for a Comic?
You can think of digital rights management (DRM) as the tool that publishers use to make sure you can only view their content they way they want you to view it (usually on their proprietary app or on their website, tied to an email account). A DRM-free comic is one that you can read just like a non-protected PDF, without having to be logged in to anything to prove your ownership, and no matter what device you’re on. In other words, you can buy DRM-free comics, then download them and organize them on a flash drive just like any other file, giving you ultimate control. This is why I consider DRM-free comics to be the best possible option, because you will always be able to read the content you paid for as long as you keep track of where it is, regardless of if a business folds or changes their policies or whatever.
One Last Option: Your Local Library
Libby from OverDrive is a magical digital service that lets you rent ebooks and audiobooks from your library right onto your device without having to physically visit the library, and it includes a solid but unremarkable number of comics and graphic novels. Your local library’s website might have even more digital options. The only thing is you need a library card, but if you don’t have a library card, I guess this is the perfect time to get one! Trust me, libraries love making people new library cards, so there’s no need to feel like you’re bothering someone if you go in and have a librarian help you out.
You already knew comics were magic, but now you know exactly where to get them, no matter what your budget or your taste is. I tried to be honest about my blind spots while still including a wide variety, but I know I’m still missing a bunch of important comic movements here, with examples like Pinoy Comics/Komics only accounting for a small sliver of what I’m missing. So please, if you think something needs to be on here, let me know with a comment below!
Now go forth and read your heart out!
