Comic Zeal & Other comic readers

Updated the Comics review to add in more info about the DC and Image apps and I also completely forgot to mention that in app purchases are taken from your account, so loading up on iTunes vouchers will save you cash.

I will be adding information about the Marvel app soon, as it runs a seperate store, which is really annoying to be honest, but I was swayed by it offering the very first Daredevil for free. Yes, I really am a shallow comic whore. :blush:
 
Marvel by Comixology.
Version x.x [October 2010]

marvel_front.jpg


Price: Free

Importing: None, just like Comixology, all comics are bought through the store front. There are quite a few that are free, mostly just teases to get you to pay an average of £1.19 for each subsequent comic in the series.

Formats: None.

Organisation: Very nicely done with tabs showing your purchased comics, free comics available, popular choices and new releases or browse the titles.

marvel_store.jpg


Tapping a comic in the store will bring up a smaller window, giving you the details and allowing you to preview the comic or view the rest of the comics in the series. The preview is a very small windowed version of the comic, showing the cover and the first couple of pages.

Like the other apps, Marvel also gives free comics - at the time of this review, Daredevil 1 and Ultimates 1 are a few of the free comics on offer.

marvel_purchase.jpg


Viewing Experience: Exactly like Comics by Comixolgy, ie supurb, which is not surprising, seeing as how they use the same engine.

The comics flow from one panel to another with a nice transition, the panel or section expands to fill the whole screen with the background either removed or dulled to focus your attention to the section at hand. It really is a joy to read in this manor.

A simple tap on the screen will advance the panel and across pages, and you can tap the middle to bring up a page view or return to the menu.

marvel_daredevil.jpg


Comixology Engine: Like the DC and Image apps, this also runs from the same Comixology engine, and all have their own store fronts to the exclusion of their rivals comics. Marvel takes this further though as it not only offers only Marvel comics, but you must create a Marvel account and cannot use your comixology account. Just to confirm in case you don't get what I am saying, comics bought in the Marvel app will NOT show up if you log into the Comics, Image or DC apps - they are completely different and separate accounts.

Theydon's Thoughts: Check Comixology for more info, as my thoughts there are very apt here as well regarding the costs of the comics - so don't forget to stock up on iTunes vouchers!

However, unless you really really rate Marvel over the other publishers, I just don't see the need for this app at all when Comixology supplies DC, Marvel, Image and the indies all under one roof, plus anything you buy in any of the other apps is available in any app that has a comixology account - something Marvel just does not do.

In Marvels case, for whatever reason, they have completely excluded themselves from the combined store front, and you log in with a Marvel account, not a comixology account. To me, this is really just Marvel being arsey and I cant see a reason for it other than just to be difficult. I really dont get the point of it. :confused:

As the app itself is free and offers different free comics to the other apps, there is nothing stopping you from helping yourself and grabbing a varied selection of comics across all the publication houses. :smashin:

As it stands though, Comixology is still the best Comic reader that has its own store.

This review is my own personal opinion, and reviewed on a non jailbroken iPad running the latest OS. I will endeavour to review and amend any apps that receive updates to help you make your own mind up, and happy to receive any differing opinions.
 
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Thanks :smashin:

I think Comic Viewer will be my next purchase and review - its probably one the most likely to equal or better ComicZeal at the moment - especially as ComicZeal seems to have had no updates in a while and the ability to add notes stopped.
 
Comic Glass' recent update (2.51) appeared to be bug fixes of sorts, and not anything like icon updates or a different front end, so nothing really to add.

Comic Glass recently updated to 2.60 and again appears to be more bugfixes and added http access. I will double check, but as mentioned above, I dont think the icons or front end has changed.
 
Just a gentle reminder that there are two distintive versions of Comic Apps. Those like Comic Zeal which have no store, which are readers of cbz and cbr formats, for either comics that you have bought like the early Fantastic Four and X-Men etc that I have copies of or that you have scanned yourself. Then there are apps like Comixology or Marvel, which allow you to purchase comics through the app itself, like the Daredevil ones I bought above.

A lot of modern comics have not been released in a format that allows you to read them in CZ, and MUST be bought through Comixologys or Marvels website - please let me know if I am wrong though!

I really dont want to have to start deleting posts or issuing infractions for talking about comics that are not released in a certain format :(

Thanks.
 
I really dont want to have to start deleting posts or issuing infractions for talking about comics that are not released in a certain format :(

I don't understand what you mean, is this an odd way of saying please don't discuss where to download comic scans from?, or am I totally missing the point (entirely posibble lol).

Me, I prefer Comic Zeal to any of the other five or six I've tried, seems to handle my preferred landscape reading far better, plus the collections are nice and organized and the UI is pretty neat looking.

It would be perfect for me if they could sort the page turns out, I don't like the swipe as it's jerky and the tap near edge of screen method isn't perfect as the tap gets activated right where my thumb sits when I scroll down the page, if the tap to turn page was only activated right near the bezel then I would give the app 10/10, as it is 9/10.
 
I don't understand what you mean, is this an odd way of saying please don't discuss where to download comic scans from?, or am I totally missing the point (entirely posibble lol)

Comics also fall into the varied dodgy methods of distribution that film and music do, so what I mean is do not discuss them at all.

There are some obvious examples. No DC comics (nor my Daredevil :( ) have been released to be able to be read through CZ unless you have scanned them yourself. I am looking at the possibility of one of the hand held scanners to stop my original comics from being ruined, and to have a go.

It's only Marvel that have made this difficult though, as they have separated themselves from comixology, meaning you have two distinct formats - much like blu-ray and hd-DVD.
 
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A nice little feature I found that I was not aware of, and no one pointed out to me - I created my own cbr out of The Order of the Stick images and dumped it in my Dropbox to grab and read later.

I had a brainwave, and opened it on my iPad, which fails as Dropbox cannot read the file, however, you can choose an application to open it in, and in this case, ComicZeal was listed. It opened correctly, and then saved it into the Comic Zeal folder.

Nice. :smashin:
 
The Walking Dead

Price: Free

Importing: None, just like Comixology, all comics are bought through the store front. There are quite a few that are free, mostly just teases to get you to pay an average of £1.19 for each subsequent comic in the series.

Formats: None.

Organisation: Very nicely done with tabs showing your purchased comics, free comics available, popular choices and new releases or browse the titles. Please note that this app is ONLY for the Walking Dead Comics, and no other comics purchased through Comixology appear in this app.

wd_store.jpg


Yes, they really have just released an app for The Walking Dead comics, which runs on the comixology engine. I wont repeat the same things over and over again, so please read any of the Comixology/Marvel based reviews in this thread for more details on how good the reader engine is.

Theydon's Thoughts: Is it any different to the comics offered by the Comics app or the Image app? Not really. There are no additional free comics other that the first issue which Image and Comics also supply, and all three apps are at issue 77 or 78 - which incidentally is where the price has risen from £1.19 to £1.79, which I suspect is to coincide with the TV release.

So another pointless app release based on the Comixology engine? Sadly, the answer to this is yes, and simply a way to cash in on people that may search for TWD inthe app store. Which is a good enough reason as any I suppose, but without ANY incentives to use this over the others (and actually you lose functionality as you canot read other comics bought) you are better off sticking with the original Comic app to gain all the comics under one roof.

How could they have made this better? Give away the first six issues I think. I have the first 10 graphic Novels, and the story is so powerful that the reader really will be hooked into wanting to know what goes on after the first story arc. There are 80+ issues out at time of writing, and I am unsure how many are expected, but I think they would get more customers this way. Plus, if the rest of the new reelases follow the +60p price structure, I think they will shoot themselves in the foot - £1.79 is getting close to the price of the comic itself and could cost them sales.

As for Comixology themselves, what are they thinking? Why another limited app? I would scrap them all bar the main one and offer loads of skins so that a die hard series fanboi who loves Walking Dead can skin his Comics app appropriatly, or someone who loves DC as a whole could do the same. One app, multiple skins......

I digress. As the others, the app is free, and does link to your Comixology account, so any TWD bought across the three apps will be available - regardless of your front end choice. Again, the prices of the collections (£5.99) are on level with the graphic novels available from Amazon, and so you really need to stock up on iTunes vouchers through deals to make the comics cheaper to buy through this app.

Regardless, TWD is a cracking read (check this thread in the book section to see others rave about it), and read through one of these apps I detail, or in original comic or graphic novel form, you will enjoy it.:smashin:

This review is my own personal opinion, and reviewed on a non jailbroken iPad running the latest OS. I will endeavour to review and amend any apps that receive updates to help you make your own mind up, and happy to receive any differing opinions.
 
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There is something I'm trying to find out here, does Comic Zeal support two-page spreads or is it always single page only?

I'm basically looking for a reader that:

- Displays all the usual formats.
- Can do two-page spreads, or if not that allows you to horizontally scroll through an image while in vertical mode.
- Has a Manga mode for reversed two-page spreads.

I assume that since Zeal has a Manga mode it MUST have a two-page spread setup, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. Unless just for the effect of swiping left instead of right.

Anybody who can answer these questions would be my hero. :)

PS. I love the lego Red Hood avatar Theydon! :D
 
[-]Comic Glass has had another update to 2.8, and now has a bookshelf frontend, but I cant see how to enable it for the life of me, and it does not help that the website is mostly in Chinese. The price has increased to £1.19 as well.

As the front end was one thing that I disliked, I am keen to test it....[/-]
 
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There is something I'm trying to find out here, does Comic Zeal support two-page spreads or is it always single page only?

I'm basically looking for a reader that:

- Displays all the usual formats.
- Can do two-page spreads, or if not that allows you to horizontally scroll through an image while in vertical mode.
- Has a Manga mode for reversed two-page spreads.

I assume that since Zeal has a Manga mode it MUST have a two-page spread setup, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. Unless just for the effect of swiping left instead of right.

Anybody who can answer these questions would be my hero. :)

PS. I love the lego Red Hood avatar Theydon! :D

:smashin:

It can support two page spreads. If you are in portrait mode, then it will naturally follow the 'action'. In Landscape mode, it shrinks to fit, showing the full spread.

I dont have any Manga to test - I dont suppose there are any legal magna comic downloads are there to test?
 
Because you want one! :D

You want to meet again to see the shiney shiney?
 
Proud owner of a 16GB after (conveniently according to the missus) spotting a deal I couldn't turn down. Slapped on Comic Zeal and I'm very impressed. Have to admit I haven't read through Theydons thread properly in a while so there may be better apps. CZ doing the job brilliantly for me so far though :thumbsup:
 
Page 2 and no tests / updates for nearly a month! Theydon, what's going on? :hiya: No improvements to any apps or new apps out? Did you manage to enable bookshelf on ComicGlass?
 
Many thanks for the reminder. [-]Yep, Comic Glass has got its graphical front end sorted, and very good it looks to. The version I mentioned above did not have it, but they have released 2 or 3 updates since then, and the one after my post above, added the Bookshelf style frontend that it was lacking.

Here are some screenshots, and I will go back and amend my review accordingly shortly.

A screenshot of the main page, with bookshelf mode on. Here I am in edit mode, which like Comic Zeal, allows you to edit, move and delete your comics. A much needed upgrade.

The Bookshelf mode in full swing. Far better than Comic Zeals small ribbon containing the comic images, this makes full use of the iPads screen size. [/-]

I think I will buy Comic Viewer next:

DenVog - Apps: Comic Viewer

Depends if I pick up more vouchers tomorrow. :smashin:
 
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Another Freebie is in iTunes, Bookman.

eBook Reader | Bookman

I will review this one as well.

What's New Features Demo Support Contact Us What’s NewDecember 15, 2010. Bookman Ver.2.5.1 has been released.December 12, 2010. Bug report for Ver.2.5.December 10, 2010. Bookman Ver.2.5 has been released.December 4, 2010. We have relaunched Bookmans’s website on December 4, 2010.
Read More
Features
Compatible with PDF and Comic Archive formats

The Bookman is compatible with both PDF format — the international standard file format for electronic texts, and eBooks created in open standard archive ZIP file format. For PDF files, you can use full text search and URL link functions. Additionally, the same search function can be used with PDF files containing OCR-added text information. It is also compatible with archive file formats used for comics (CBR, CBZ, RAR). Compatibility with ePub files is also scheduled for the future.

Loaded with the fastest rendering engine

With the Bookman, you can view large eBook files quickly and comfortably. Loaded with a high-speed optimized rendering engine, the Bookman can display new pages within 0.2 seconds, even when other PDF readers took seconds to turn a page, allowing for continuous and comfortable stress-free reading.

eBooks are easily downloadable from the Internet

Using its built-in Web browser, you can download thousands of eBooks from online eBook services (Feedbooks, Smashwords, etc.). As long as you can connect to the Internet, you can download and instantly read eBooks without a PC.
 
I've been trying out Comic Glass myself, my main viewer is Comic Zeal, which I love, the menus and interface seem much more polished and professional looking than those on CG, though you can't help but love the CG bookshelf view, I keep the view on CZ to show a thumbnail and text about the issue, but the thumb is really tiny which sucks. CZ was working on updates including bookshelf view and various other things but I read a post a while back saying he had gone onto some other project so who knows if that will happen.

But for me the interface is only like of 20% importance, far more important is the actual viewing, for me I view in landscape, and then I rotate the iPad now and again when something looks better in portrait - like the front cover for example. I generally don't read in portrait as the iPad screen is just a bit smaller than an actual comic making the text too small for me to comfortably read without zooming on pinching etc. When reading landscape I occasionally have to use the double tap zoom for detailed bits.

Bad bits about the viewing experience on CZ is when im reading a super high res comic it's so deathly slow to change pages, like 3 seconds slow, so I have to run the files through the CZ shrink tool before I put the on the iPad, Im also not a fan of where the tap zones margins are, but everything else I love, it's extremely smooth at rotating, zooming etc. Checking out CG I've almost got it at the point I like it, it has no issues with the tap zones and it's quick at changing page. Only two problems I've come up against, when reading in landscape when I flip up to portrait on some pages the viewer introduces a thin white line on the right side of the page, which is still there when I switch back to landscape, damn annoying and I don't know how to eliminate it. Also when I double tap to zoom the program has to wait a second to render the images clearly, so the images will be burry for a second while it's doing it. I would rather run them through a program like CZ than have the delay while actually reading them.

So for now I'm still using CZ but will try and new reader or update to an old one to see what they are like.
 
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BookMan
Version 2.5.2 - December 2010

bman_splash.jpg


Price: Free

Website: eBook Reader | Bookman

Importing: As usual, you import your CBZ/CBR's through File sharing in iTunes.

It starts with a introduction screen to help you understand the app, as well as the icon's meanings and tap zones.

bman_menu.jpg


A nice bookshelf view, with no importing much like Comic Glass - it imports them all into a long list of single issues on the shelves. It also has the same importing problems that Comic Glass has - no automatic creation of folders, or in this case seperate bookshelves for your comics.

So, you create a Bookcase, then edit the selection, and move them to the bookcase you have created.

bman_shelf.jpg


bman_move.jpg


Organisation: The Bookshelf view is very good, and lays them out very well. Clicking the pile of books icon allows you to flick from one bookshelf to the next. If you have more than 25 (5x5) comics, you get additional bookcases to flick from one to the other, although you cannot flick from one different bookcase to the other strangely. Landscape mode can show 40 (5 x 8) comics though.

bman_shelf2.jpg


bman_library.jpg


Viewing Experience: No double tap to zoom, as depending on were you tap, it either closes the book or advances you back or forwards through the comic.

bman_comic.jpg


Pinch zoom is ok, but a little floaty, and is lost on page turn. Landscape mode automatically puts you into two page mode, but there is an options button that allows you to change things accordingly.

bman_info.jpg


This allows you a fine choice over your viewing experience, and is very intuitive - set in landscape zoomed out, it means that you can flick through. The page transition also works as it should, ie get to the bottom of a page and flick takes you to the top of the next. This view is also not 'floaty' as well, and if you switch from Portrait to Landscape, it remembers the setting. Its a pity that Portrait mode can not zoom out and remember through page turns.

There are lots of options here, information on the comic itself, and a ton of settings including a web browser, Dropbox and FTP access.

Theydon's Thoughts:

A bloody good reader indeed, as well as being very polished. The icons and details are superb, the bookcase is very well presented, and the comic reading experience is ok, portrait is overshadowed by the landscape mode though.

There are lots of options that I have not touched upon - perhaps one of you can play about and let me know to see if this is the king of the freebies.

For me, it easily takes the top spot for freebie readers though.

This review is my own personal opinion, and reviewed on a non jailbroken iPad running the latest OS. I will endeavour to review and amend any apps that receive updates to help you make your own mind up, and happy to receive any differing opinions.
 
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Well I downloaded the new Comic Glass update (it's had 4 updates since Dec 09 and 13 updates from when it was launched 5 months ago!) and it's now my reader of choice.

As I said above I had annoying niggle issues with the last version especially with the image rendering time when zooming in, this new release nearly eliminates the issue completely, I rarely notice it at all now. My other issue was a stupid white line appearing when I rotated the image, well I managed to kick that into touch simply by changing the background color to black, wish I thought of that before.

But those are small issues really the three bigger issues as to why Comic Glass now prevails over Comic Zeal are:-

1. Speed. My high res comics with images of over 2002 by whatever slow right down with CZ, so I have to spend ages shrinking them down before copying them to the iPad, with CG none of this is necessary. Page turns average less than a second.

2. Customization and therefore ease of use. CG has so much more option to customise your viewing it's not even funny!, especially awesome is how you can select what action to perform for taps in all sorts of parts of the screen, so I've set it to back a page with a tap to far left, forward a page with a tap to the far right, close the comic with a tap up top, of course there's controls for swipes too. All the menus can be a bit daunting at first ( especially all the zoom toggles), and the developers must be from the Far East as the CG website isn't made for English users.

Anyway where these controls shine for me is that I can now read without thinking about where my damn fingers and thumbs are, I like to have at least one of my hands on the bezel and I scroll down the page with my thumbs, on CZ I can't do this because the page turn tap zone is in the way and you can't scroll within the tap zone, so this means you have to stretch uncomfortably to make sure your not in the tap zone when you scroll down, of course now and then I would forget and activate the tap zone :rolleyes:. Now the tap zones on CG are fully scrollable, might not mean anything to most users but it's a god send for me.

3. Graphical interface, while I stand by what I said in that the settings menu, the slider to move through the comic are not as polished or as gorgeous looking as those in CZ the fact that CG has a bookshelf view with true folder implementation trumps that!. Folders within folders so you can have a folder for Mutants and then put different X-Men titles in there or whatever. It's really nice to be able to see the comic thumbnails too, those in CZ are just microscopic.

So what don't I like about CR, well I'm still not quite 100% happy with the double tap zoom function, there's a setting for 130%,150%,200%.I'm used to the CZ zoom (not that you can choose a %) which is around 170%. I would also like the folders to have a pic of one of the comics on them, there just blank with the title on them at present. Finally it irritates me that comics don't open when you click on them, you have another press to do as decides to ask you whether you want to start reading from page 1.
 
Excellent points Pete.

The bookshelf view and customisable options are very well done - if only Glass had the advancement through a page like CZ, and got rid of the clunky importing process, it would be the top choice for me as well.

I updated my review of Glass as well on page 3 of this thread.

Actually, if you could combine Bookman and CZ together, icons, bookshelf and customisable options from Bookman, and importing, zooms, pan assisted.....basically the front end of Bookman and reader engine of Zeal you would get the best reader ever!
 
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[-]Seeing no updates for my current fave, Comic Zeal, and noting that his blog detailing updates had been quiet for months, I found it active in another section.

https://comiczeal.tenderapp.com/

I then asked about any upcoming updates:

Are there any new updates planned? I was hoping to see the frontend updated to allow the large icons on a whole page rather than a ribbon of 14 icons down x 1 across, have the whole page viewable as your selection list.

Thanks!

https://comiczeal.tenderapp.com/discussions/problems/168-menu-updates

And got a simple reply of "Yes."

If you look around the site, it looks like the next update will also include the ability to change titles, and also add subfolders. :smashin:

I will update things obviously when its released or I know more.[/-]
 
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