Over the past weeks, I’ve covered a lot of ways—both free and paid—to access digital comics. While not everyone likes reading comics outside of going to their favorite comic shop each week—digital services do have many advantages.
Often, like Golden-Age classics— it’s the only way to affordably and easily read them. They also give you the chance to sample comics or creators before buying them at your comic shop. Lastly, it’s a fantastic way to support indie comics because digital editions are often fantasticly priced.
For example, Big Bang Comics—one of the longest-running indy publishers, whose comic book anthology series was designed to be an homage to Golden Age and Silver Age comics—can be found on Indy Planet. One of the fantastic things about Indy Planet is it allows you to do print-on-demand (for those of you who must have a physical copy) or a digital edition.
Now, if you’ve NEVER read a Big Bang Comic—you should! They are one of the comic’s best-kept secrets! I’ve written about them and featured them on the podcast many times. One of my favorite tapings was with Gary Carlson—aka the Grandfather of Image Comics because some of their biggest stars got their first breakthrough at Big Bang.
Their latest comic, recently released, is Big Bang Adventures #14, which is 48 (worth the price of admission alone!) page comics featuring the first part of “The Last Whiz Kids Story.” I hope not! I’m a fan favorite of the Whiz Kids! Print-on-Demand a very reasonable $5.99. The digital edition—a mere 99 cents! So when you head over to Indy Planet, also check out the Big Bang website to learn more about the comic’s best-kept secret.
It’s been quite a while since I checked into Drive Thru Comics. If memory serves me correctly, the website was kind of substandard. I think the website didn’t entice me enough to spend much time on it, primarily since other sites served my purposes. It’s been around for a long time, beginning back in 2006. Unlike other digital platforms, they do not have a subscription plan and only see digital comics.
Wow! Crive Thru is NOTHING as I remember it! They even have a brand-new logo! It’s been around for a long time, beginning back in 2006. The new and redone website is vastly better than it was in the past.
If you’re looking to buy some digital comics, this is a fantastic place to do so. There are several “comic-friendly” options like .cbz and .epub, which means you’re also not tied to an eco-system like ComiXology, where you can only read them on the Kindle app.
You also don’t have to do a lot of searching because they have dedicated pop-up menus. I like the one that is adult, general, AND kid-friendly. Not all sites make it easy for kids to find comics. It also sells comics in different languages, which is also nice to see.
One downside is they don’t have the more prominent publishers, but you do get Alien Books, Rebellion, Markosia, and Dynamite. Also, there is a lack of current offerings for some of the publishers. But comics do get added almost every week.
The pricing is reasonable, and there are always some sort of sales. They also offer something unique—“pay what you want titles.” Like some other digital sites, they also some free comics you can get.
One more place to check out Golden Age classics is the Digital Comics Museum, another digital library of comic books in the public domain, established in 2010. Truthfully, it is similar to ComicBook+. The home page is a little more user-friendly. If only because it gives you details on the most downloaded and top-rated comics. I also think it might be easier to search for particular comics or genres on the DCM. I’ve used both, and I believe it is only a matter of preference. One big difference is that the CBM has a forum on Discord.
Links:
Indy Planet
https://www.indyplanet.com/
Big Bang Comics
https://bigbangcomics.com/
Drive-Thru Comics
https://preview.drivethrucomics.com/en/
Digital Comics Museum
https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/
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