Comic books as a medium seem tailor-made for tablets, even if the timeline doesn’t precisely add up. But there are a surprising amount of comic reading applications meant for old-fashioned desktop machines, too. This stuff comes in handy for gadgets that blur the lines, like the Microsoft Surface, or for someone who’s amassed a large collection of DRM-free comic book files.
MComix: Windows, Linux
If you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use comic reader with enough features to give you some extra bells and whistles, MComix should probably be your first stop. It’s free and open source, based on the older and now abandoned Comix reader project, regularly updated for Windows and Linux. If it had a macOS version, we might just be able to end this article right here.
The interface has a basic library function, but it’s easier to simply open your files (CBR, CBZ, and PDF, among more pedestrian image formats) directly from your computer’s file explorer. The reading view makes it easy to find your page with thumbnails along the left side, and various fit modes along with a full screen view are handy in both button and hotkey flavors. The reader supports double-page views to best emulate comic reading, and a right-to-left mode for those who prefer manga to western-style comics.
The download comes as a standalone package, so you don’t even need to install anything, though you might want to associate some of the more common comic file types with MComix soon after trying it out.
YACReader: Windows, macOS, Linux
If you live a multi-OS lifestyle and you prefer some cross-platform consistency, YACReader is probably your best bet. It supports all of the common file types and archives, with a focus on building up an extensive and well-organized library of personal comics.
The application will automatically fetch tags and issue data from the ComicVine database, and those who are keen on sharing with friends can install the UI-free server version to remotely host comics on iOS.The application is available on Windows in both installer and portable flavors, plus 64-bit macOS and various Linux distro…
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