Comics are kind of a big deal today. No longer for just obscure geeks at Comic-Con, comics have gone mainstream, especially due to their presence on the small screen.
Lots of comic books have been transformed into TV shows and movies, in the last few years, but there are some who still prefer reading visual novels to watching the Hollywood remakes.
While comic book stores aren’t so scarce as they used to be, those interested in reading comics can do so in digital form too. And the good news is that it’s becoming increasingly easy to read comics online.
A lot of publishers offer their comics in non-physical format at great prices and sometimes even for free. All you need is an Android phone (preferably with a bigger screen) or a tablet and a comic book reading app.
Below you’ll find a list of some of the best apps for Android for reading digital comics.
Comics by ComiXology
One of the most popular and best-known app for reading visual novels on your Android device, Comics by ComiXology lets you explore up to 10,000 digital comics from renowned publishers like Marvel, DC, Image and more.
You can start your journey in the land of comics with a 30-day free trial of ComiXology Unlimited. You’ll be able to purchase reading material directly from the app and even save your downloaded books on your device’s removable storage.
The app has an offline mode, so if you’re planning a trip somewhere remote, you’ll still be able to take your comics with you.
Perfect Viewer
Next up we have Perfect Viewer – a super-fast image/comics/ebook viewer. Despite boasting a pretty outdated interface, Perfect Viewer does its job pretty well. It supports archive file formats such as CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR, 7Z/CB7, LZH and CBT/TAR and for ebook formats such as PFD, XPS, and DJVU (after you install the PDF plugin).
Unlike Comics by ComiXology, Perfect Viewer is not actually a place you can purchase comics from, but a viewer which allows you to read your comics from your personal library. The app allows users to adjust things like image brightness, contrast, and gamma. There are five viewing modes to choose from including Full size, Fit Screen, Fit Width, Fit Height, Fixed size, and Stretch.
Challenger Comics Viewer
Another viewer which lets you manage your collection of comics and visual novels. The interface is a lot more appealing than in the case of Perfect Viewer, especially since it’s based on Holo Dark, so it won’t interfere with your reading activities.
Challenger embeds nifty features such as border cropping, single page and “2-page” display mode, as well as autoscrolling by long pressing on the screen. Files can be accessed from a variety of places including your device or network (Google Drive, Mega, Windows/SAMBA/CIFS, DropBox etc).
Dark Horse Comics
The Dark Horse Comics app is home to the well-known collection of Dark Horse comics including Star Wars, Mass Effect, Spike, Hell Boy, Sin City and so on. This is where you’ll be able to browse and select the comics you want to purchase. But you’ll also get to read them.
The app features a cloud-based system that lets you read all your purchases on any device you might want. So you will be able to continue reading your comics right where you left off on your smartphone or tablet.
Astonishing Comic Reader
Another comic reader which bundles all the features needed to manage and customize your collection. The app comes with configurable controls that let you navigate pages with taps to the screen edge, hardware controls, or virtual buttons.
The Astonishing Comic Reader also has a social component in the sense that you can create a list of your favorite comics and then share these pages with your friends. The app is fully compatible with CBZ and CBR comics.
Marvel Comics
Welcome to the Marvel universe! Make yourself right at home and start browsing the extensive collection of comics. Reading material is organized by category, so you’ll have no problem finding something new to add to your collection. Prices are kept very affordable too, so there’s no reason not to give the app a chance. Especially if you’re a Marvel enthusiast.
Manga Rock
We couldn’t finish off a list of comic book apps without including one for Manga enthusiast. Manga Rock offers quite a few options to display comic books and supports many picture formats including PDF, JPG, CBR, and CBZ.
The app lets you browse through thousands of manga in English, but allows you to discover new content as well via curated lists. Obviously, you can import your own library to the app, as well.
