Oh the sacrifices I had to make to write this post. I had to actually read comic books. The pain and horror!
Someone asked me recently if I’m a big comic book fan. The honest answer is, “no.” I’d like to be a big fan, but I’m not willing to spend the money to support a comic habit. Which is why I was thrilled by last week’s announcement that Scribd now has comic books.
There are several series I’ve been wanting to read or re-read, but when it comes to entertainment dollars, books are usually a better value for me. Scribd takes that consideration out of the equation, and, since several of the series I’d been wanting to read are available, I’m a happy camper.
All is not perfect, however. One of the things I love about Comixology is the Guided View mode, which takes you through a comic panel by panel. Scribd doesn’t have anything like that. The experience is more like reading the paper comic, just in electronic form.
You can zoom in on the panels, which sometimes produces a noticable pixelation. On the other hand, I’ve had no trouble reading any of the comics I’ve tried.
Reading is pretty much what you’d expect. Open comic and page through. They look gorgeous on my iPad 4. With reading glasses, I could read them on my 7″ Nook HD, but I preferred the larger screen of the iPad. The comics are virtually unreadable on a phone making this a tablet-only feature. Interestingly, most of the screen shots Scribd provided show the comics in landscape mode, while I always read them in portrait, which is easier on my aging eyes. One nice feature is when you finish a comic which is part of a series, it automatically marks the current comic as finished and asks if you want to start the next one. Makes binge reading so easy.
What about selection and discoverability? If you are a fan of the Marvel-verse, you’re in luck. There’s lots of content. Do you like DC? Sorry. No Batman in Scribd, which is too bad. I’ve been meaning to read him for years. Hint, Scribd. Next deal?
Most of the comics I wanted to read are published by IDW and Dynamite, so I was happy to see those. I’m sure I’ll browse the Marvel selections as well.
They are easy to find. I’d prefer that they created a Comics category instead of having them under Books, but that’s a minor quibble. You can search by character, which is a nice feature when it works properly. I searched for more comics about Spike (the vampire from Buffy). Apparently, there’s also a My Little Pony named Spike. (Either that, or Spike the vampire has some really odd tastes.)
There’s enough to keep me happy for a long time, which is good for me as a reader. I’m not so sure it’s good for Scribd, though. Comics go quickly, and I don’t see how they are going to make money if too many people discover them and their addictive nature. It would be easy to binge read a lot of comics in a short period of time.
I’m thinking on subscribing, but I would like to know a little more. Can you download the comics to read them offline? Is the reader app any good? Is it possible to download them and open them in a better app?
It’s sad that there’s no Vertigo Comics (they are DC’s) nor Image, that have the main series I follow, but this is nevertheless a great step forward.
@Rodolfo, yes, you can download the comics for offline reading. The reader app is functional but not terribly fancy. As I said in my article, if you’re looking for some kind of guided view, it’s not there. However, I have found the reading experience to be as good as say, the Viz Manga app, which is also lacking guided view. No, you can’t open them in another app. All comics are locked to the Scribd app. They do offer a free trial, so give it a try for 30 days and see if it works for you.
I signed up for Scribd when they added audiobooks – they have a wide selection for kids, which was great for us. Occasionally the app is buggy but overall, I have been very happy with the service.