Comic book readers on Android

[Otto Harkaman]

Recently I have gotten into Trekker mode and I thought it would be fun to read some of the old Star Trek comics. I figured my Android tablet would be perfect to use because I have a lot of the various Star Trek series in cbz & cbr formats.

I needed an app on my tablet to view this so I started to experiment. As is the case today you have to figure out what app works best for you. One I like but unfortunately my tablet doesn't fully support is Astonishing Comic Reader HD. This is a great app but requires a lot of resources my tablet doesn't have. At the moment I have sort of settled for A Comic Viewer. I don't think it renders the images well and unfortunately it doesn't have the sorting and organization of collections that Astonishing Comic Reader has.

I've got all the Gold Key comics based on TOS and Marvel's Early Voyages currently on my tablet, fun browsing though these. Anybody else viewing comics on their tablets? What apps are you using?

 

[Markonian]

I'm an Amazon customer and read all my Trek e-comics I buy there on my Android tablet's Kindle app. It's easy to use and you can see the comic in color.

The only problem are loading times. When you want to jump back a couple of pages, it may take a few moments. Other than that, the app itself is fine.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Thinking of your post and lag as you mentioned, I did a quick test opening various comics that I hadn't opened with ACV "A Comic View" and it loaded immediately. I have a cheap Chinese tablet so I was surprised I had no lag.

I just wish it had the ability to set up collections and show a thumbnail of the comic book cover.

 

[JD]

I get all of my comic for my Android tablet off of Comixology. I've tried some on both the Nook and Kindle apps but didn't like either as much as Comixology's app. The Kindle app really pissed me off. I got the first Captain America: The Winter Soldier collection, and it wouldn't let me zoom in close enough to read the text bubbles on some of pages. I returned the comic and haven't used the app for another since, although it is my favorite for pure text books.

 

[NightJim]

I too use Comixology, used Kindle's normal app too and Comixology was much better. Which is probably why Amazon bought them.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

I went to check out y'all's Comixology and then I started to read a lot of bad user press about its acquisition by Amazon. I guess its become the pawn between Apple and Amazon. I read someone complaining that their comic purchases disappeared. Plus I am flying a pretty loose cannon android system that has been rooted so I don't want someone constantly monitoring my comics to make sure the DRM is correct.

With that said looking Comixology up on Google Play led me to another app which I think is what I was looking for ComicRack. Thumbnail of covers, collection sorting and I was amazed again on my cheap tablet that it was very fast, also the image rendering is great.

 

[JD]

I've never had any issues with Comixology and I've been using it for years now.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Thanks, didn't mean to sound so critical. I was just going by what I read online. Also I didn't like that I had to register a credit card or paypal account for it. ComicRack has a free version so I didn't need to do that. I like the ComicRack navigational controls. Although I have had one or two times where the app has seemed to make my tablet crash. I attribute that more to my cheap tablet.

cheers

 

[CaffeineAddict]

I've used comixology for a few years, and i like it. I've never had any of the issues i've read of others having. I also use ComicRack on android, and that works very well. If anything, acquisition of Comixology by Amazon is a bonus to me, as I use other Amazon stuff, and I would guess it'll get better integrated, just like Audible did.

 

[JD]

Thanks, didn't mean to sound so critical. I was just going by what I read online. Also I didn't like that I had to register a credit card or paypal account for it. ComicRack has a free version so I didn't need to do that. I like the ComicRack navigational controls. Although I have had one or two times where the app has seemed to make my tablet crash. I attribute that more to my cheap tablet.

cheers

Do you not actually buy comics off of ComicRack?
The reason you have to give Comixology your credit card or Pay Pal data is because you buy the comics directly off the site.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

^ No I had a whole bunch of Star Trek comics on my PC that I had acquired a while ago that I just hadn't looked at.

 

[bbailey861]

I put A Comic Viewer on my wife's Samsung Galaxy Tab and she likes it. She tells me it's user friendly and doesn't want me to take it off to change with anything else. That's endorsement enough for me.

 

[revolution22]

i too use comixology. screw the politics, it's a great app.

thinkgeek.com also has a compilation cd-rom of every single trek comic from the sixties up to 2008 in .pdf format

 

[drc]

Thanks, didn't mean to sound so critical. I was just going by what I read online. Also I didn't like that I had to register a credit card or paypal account for it. ComicRack has a free version so I didn't need to do that. I like the ComicRack navigational controls. Although I have had one or two times where the app has seemed to make my tablet crash. I attribute that more to my cheap tablet.

cheers

I love ComicRack. It runs really well on my three-year old Toshiba tablet.

I also used the PC-based version to import the PDFs that came with that Star Trek comics DVD-ROM from 2008.

 

[Starbreaker]

ComicRack and a Comic Viewer are the two best for sure.

 

[JD]

Thanks, didn't mean to sound so critical. I was just going by what I read online. Also I didn't like that I had to register a credit card or paypal account for it. ComicRack has a free version so I didn't need to do that. I like the ComicRack navigational controls. Although I have had one or two times where the app has seemed to make my tablet crash. I attribute that more to my cheap tablet.

cheers

I love ComicRack. It runs really well on my three-year old Toshiba tablet.

I also used the PC-based version to import the PDFs that came with that Star Trek comics DVD-ROM from 2008.

Can you pull the comics off the DVD without all sorts of complex hacking? I've been wanting to put them on my tablet, but I wasn't sure if I would be able too.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

I wish ComicRack read pdfs, I would use it as my ebook reader. Once you get the gestures down its really easy to read and browse with.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Thanks, didn't mean to sound so critical. I was just going by what I read online. Also I didn't like that I had to register a credit card or paypal account for it. ComicRack has a free version so I didn't need to do that. I like the ComicRack navigational controls. Although I have had one or two times where the app has seemed to make my tablet crash. I attribute that more to my cheap tablet.

cheers

I love ComicRack. It runs really well on my three-year old Toshiba tablet.

I also used the PC-based version to import the PDFs that came with that Star Trek comics DVD-ROM from 2008.

Can you pull the comics off the DVD without all sorts of complex hacking? I've been wanting to put them on my tablet, but I wasn't sure if I would be able too.

Do you connect your tablet to your computer? are you using a PC or a Mac? I would use your file manager on your computer to take the comics off the dvd then connect the tablet to your computer and load them onto the tablet.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Just loaded the computer version on my PC, lots of features, a little overwhelming at first

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Sweet! Was able to take a couple pdfs I had of the old FASA Star Trek role playing game and convert them to cbz format using the pc program version. ComicRack rocks!