Digital Comics I've Already Paid but Can't Read

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You should read comics. Now, more than than e'er, comics are the star around which mass media revolves, whether it's movies, streaming, or network TV. Knowing comics means catching every deep cutting Easter egg in Aquaman and having plenty to tell your friends about Spider-Ham later on Spider-Human: Into the Spider-Poesy . Information technology also means enjoying a blazon of storytelling yous can only detect on the page — blockbusters can be corking, but comics can have risks.

Plus, in the words of prolific comic writer Kelly Sue Deconnick: "Comics are e'er going to be libation because nosotros're cheaper!"

If y'all're reading this, y'all've hopefully decided that you should get into comics. Maybe you lot but got a squeamish large color tablet to play with. Mayhap you dearest the medium, just getting to a comic shop isn't convenient. Maybe you but don't have room for lots of concrete copies (similar me), and you aren't going to ignore that and maintain a huge collection anyway (like me).

If that's the case, you should exist reading comics digitally. And there are more different means to purchase and read digital comics than ever earlier, so here'southward your guide to the best digital comics service for you lot.

What's the all-time all-around digital comics service?

That'south Comixology.com .

Owned by Amazon, Comixology is the biggest digital retailer of American comics (and some manga and European comics) out there. Over 200 publishers sell their comics through the service, and for many of them Comixology is their only digital storefront.

Comixology's back catalog is immense, and the site ofttimes has massive sales. No matter whose books you like, you can probably purchase them and view them at them all in the same app, or in your browser. Thanks to synergy between Amazon and Comixology, you lot tin too cash-in Amazon gift cards on anything in Kindle Comics with Kindle & comiXology badging.

But, the size of the Comixology dorsum catalog tin exist overwhelming. So, here are some other options that might be a better fit for you.

Promo art for Robert Kirkman's Oblivion Song.

Lorenzo De Felici

If you actually don't know where to start...

Get a Comixology Unlimited subscription .

Take it from Polygon's comics editor: There are a lot of comics! The number one complaint I get from new readers is they take no thought where to showtime. On peak of reading Polygon's comics coverage for tips on new and interesting series, Comixology'due south Unlimited subscription is an piece of cake solution.

The proper noun is a slight misnomer: "Unlimited" makes it sound similar this is a monthly subscription service that gives you lot access to all of Comixology's catalog — like Curiosity Unlimited (more than on that later). Instead, Comixology Unlimited offers a rotating selection of comics from the biggest publishers in the American industry. Sometimes it's a whole run, sometimes information technology's the first story arc — but always plenty to moisture your whistle. Update: And now the service even includes select DC Comics books.

If you lot want to try more than comics earlier you purchase collections or difficult copies, this is a subscription that'll serve upwardly a tasting menu of the hottest titles out in that location. And when yous do buy, Comixology subscribers get a 10 to xv percent discount on all books from publishers involved in Comixology Unlimited.

If you don't know where to showtime, but know you lot want to offset with DC Comics...

Get a DC Universe subscription .

As a long-fourth dimension fan, I'm hoping DC Universe'south selection will become a little more robust, and I think the app could use some minor simply impactful quality of life improvements. However!

There'due south no denying that there's some great stuff on there — and not but comics, but a huge portion of DC telly and movie adaptations. Batman : The Animated Serial, Richard Donner'south Superman movies, the '70s Wonder Woman series and more. Not to mention an ever expanding slate of surprisingly expert streaming originals.

Like Comixology Unlimited, DC Entertainment rotates the comics available on the app, oftentimes to coincide with the release of its movie adaptations — and information technology only launched this summertime, and then in that location's time for it to work out the kinks. The service simply announced its first expansion of its library, and information technology's a big i, so things are definitely moving in the right direction.

From Curiosity'southward The Runaways.

If you just want to read Marvel Comics, and none of this new stuff...

Become a Curiosity Unlimited subscription .

Marvel Unlimited gives you access to a huge backlog of Curiosity'due south decades of comics. It's non everything, only it's pretty close. The database is too searchable (to reasonable accuracy) past character, creator proper noun, series name and even story arc.

The but thing you definitely won't find on Marvel Unlimited is new releases. New comics hitting the service with an approximately iii-month delay. So while the service is great for catching up (prep for Helm Marvel by reading those pivotal books), it's bad for staying current. Just if you don't need to stay current, you're aureate.

What if I want to read manga?

Check out Crunchyroll or Shonen Bound .

Did you know that a Crunchyroll subscription doesn't but offer you lot access to a huge library of anime titles, but also manga? Now y'all do.

There'southward also a new kid on the scene when it comes to Western readers accessing a massive manga back catalog: Shonen Jump. Launched in Dec of 2018, America's largest publisher of manga, Viz Media, now has an every bit impressive digital storefront. The three well-nigh recent chapters of whatsoever current serial, like Decease Notation, are available free on Shonen Jump, with new English translations of chapters available simultaneously with their release in Nihon.

On top of that, over x,000 older chapters of current and completed series are available via a pennies-a-day subscription, a rather persuasive bid to gainsay the scourge of illegal scans and translations.

What if I desire to really own copies of my comics?

Use Comixology .

If you're a paranoid consumer — and you have every right to exist — yous may accept noticed one large unlike between reading physical copies and reading digital comics. When you buy a concrete comic, you own that object.

Just when you buy digital comics you're actually just purchasing the ability to look at information technology in the app or browser window of the service you're giving coin to. Divorcing yourself from that service — or that service divorcing itself from you or its customers for whatever reason — means being divorced from your comics.

There'southward really only i way effectually this in the wider digital comics space: Comixology's DRM-free backup feature. A number of publishers offer their titles for download after being purchased through Comixology, including Paradigm Comics, IDW Publishing, Valiant and Oni Press.

Notably missing from that list are Marvel and DC Comics. But if yous want to truly buy copies of your digital comics, this the but choice I've constitute.

Now, hither'due south a list of the all-time comics of 2018. Get reading!

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Source: https://www.polygon.com/comics/2018/12/26/18104852/where-to-buy-read-download-digital-comics-apps-subscription-services

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