We here at the MacStories institute of app reviews have a feeling that your stack of Dōjinshi, Green Latern, and The Walking Dead comics have been dwindling at an alarming pace. Surely you could fulfill all your Hentai Manga needs online, but what fun is downloading RAR files just to peep JPEGs when you could get with the times and scoop some CBZ or CBR files from your favorite digital vendors? And no doubt you’ve been pulling shenanigans like scanning Super Man covers into PDFs for easy reading in iBooks instead of faxing ass photos to your boss in Italy. While there’s nothing like tearing the plastic off Wonder Woman, flipping pages is best left for the DC fanatics who have a thing for glossy covers and tongue inspired paper crinkling. It’s time to give comics a quick swift kick in the rear and bring the treasure trove of paneled heroism into the 21st century. That’s what Danger Duck would have wanted right?
Most likely you dirty dogs have been using the Googz (slang around here for Google), Incognito’d and proxy’d in Chrome because your Japanese reading habits are as equally disturbing as my love of cupcakes. Normally I’d forgive you, but god forbid you actually downloaded the next teenage relationship with a demon hunter drama to your hard drive. While I’m not terribly excited about your choice of non-American monster tales, the least I can do is remove the stain of Quick Look and introduce you to some choice tools of the trade.
Subscriptions
Sticking to Internet fandom, the least we can do is start by sponsoring some legal digital outlets where you can often save money via subscriptions vs. paying a few bucks per paperback. Marvel and DC through comiXology are available online and on your devices thanks to specific iPhone and iPad applications that keep your mutant vs. superhero needs in check. You can also check out outlets like Graphic.ly or Wowio if you’re looking for comics outside of the norms.
Know your Comic Book Archives
Most likely you’ve amassed a collection of digital comics through other nefarious means such as teleportation or the whole download from a skeevy website business, so we’re going to implement a don’t ask don’t policy in hopes of harboring a community of do-gooders instead of hoarders. If you’re dealing with digital comics, you should be familiar with CBZ and CBR files.
ZIP is to CBZ as RAR is to CBR: You end up with the same contents bundled up in a different way. So while you get a compressed package of joy no matter what you end up with, the reason you want CBZ and CBR files is that they give comic readers to do cool things like read page orders. If it’s a good comic reader, it’ll be smart enough to reverse page order so you can read the comic Manga or American style (back-to-front or front-to-back).
Mac Comic Book Readers
Comical and FFView are most likely the old school solutions you’re likely to come across when perusing comic software for the Mac. Though if you’re really hardcore, you might be willing to throw out $25 for ComicBookLover.
ComicBookLover might be the most appealing option here since there’s consistency between the desktop, iPhone, and iPad versions. While I don’t want to cover iPad options just yet, know these options are available if you want to bank on a holistic experience. Bitcartel’s desktop app is pretty badass because it’s comprehensive in helping fanatics manage their comic addiction with a suite of simple editing tools, dual monitor support, and a full screen mode for the most intimate of reading sessions.
You pay for what you get, but I personally like Simple Comic. With features like the image loupe and full screen thumbnail view, I’ve had no problems in enjoying a bit of space nerdery on my 13” MacBook. You can’t argue with the price of free to give the software a spin, but I highly recommend you pass along a donation to at least acknowledge your comic cravings.
iPad Comic Book Readers
If you’re a savvy comic book reader, most likely you’ve been looking at how to get Batman onto that 10” display. If you want the comic app that has it all, you need to download Comics. Marvel, DC, and my favorite, The Walking Dead, are all available with something called Guided View Technology. GVT gives you the ability to shift panel from panel instead of page to page, removing the possibility to ruin spoilers for those with wandering eyes. For something that sounds so gimmicky, it’s pretty damn cool.
The big draw (and drawback) for me is the built in comic store. It’s just as easy to purchase comics as you would purchase songs on iTunes – you’ll quickly drain your bank account if you’re not careful about getting caught up in a thrilling storyline. Though with Comics, you don’t have a great ability to add and download content to the app as it’s truly store-only. While it’s the most polished comic reader available, you’re stuck with whatever content comiXology gives you.
Your second best bet if you want to manage your own titles would be Bitolithic’s Comic Zeal Comic Reader. While that’s a mouthful to say, their app is fairly comprehensive and offers everything from wireless syncing via a Mac based library manager to excellent in app organization by series. While at times syncing the desktop client to the iPad feels clumsy as comics are renamed and optimized, it’s smart about how it approaches content. You have the most options here, and I personally find this to be my favorite solution.
Back to Bitcartel, their free ComicBookLover for iPad has the potential to be really good as their desktop software is fantastic. You could totally opt for this option as you get the flexibility of Comic Zeal with the elegance of Comics (which should make it a clear winner right?), but I had problems with the app crashing a bit and the transfer process just isn’t that sexy. It’s definitely one to keep an eye on for now.
Get Reading
Kids these days got it lucky – back when Spiderman was cool we actually had to turn pages. Now you can easily browse through a multitude of art-tastic adventures on everyone’s favorite iOS device, or your bokkeh inspired Mac desktop. Hopefully we’ve turned you on to some of the finer offerings available, but I’m sure as one of our highly educated commenters, you’ll fill us in on other alternatives that satisfy your Comic-Con inspired reading habits.
