6 Reasons I Read Comics on a Tablet Instead of Paper

I’ve dabbled with print-based comic books off and on in my life, but not until I embraced tablets have I really engaged with the medium. Now I read comics daily, and there are several reasons why I prefer the screen to the paper page when it comes to my superhero fix.

It’s Affordable

Comic books used to be cheap, like really cheap. The weekly stuff was printed on cheap paper, and they weren’t expected to last long. Fast-forward to today and just paying for issues of one series will cost you $5 to $10 a month, depending on whether it’s a monthly or bi-weekly series. So you’re looking at $60+ a year for one series. Add to that all the crossover series, and you’ll almost certainly need to buy books from other series to get the whole story, so you’re looking at hundreds of dollars per year.

Now, I can already hear Comic Book Guy raising his hand in the back pointing out that the average comic book price increase hasn’t been much different than average inflation levels, which means that individual issues aren’t really more expensive in real terms. However, while that may be true, the industry today is much different and how many issues you have to buy in the hobby to get the most out of it looks a little different. Comic book publishers have learned all the tricks, which is fine because their job is to sell books. However, for the average person, especially in tough economic conditions, things can add up fast.

So, reading comic books on my tablet is more affordable. However, digital comics cost the same as paper editions! Yes, like digital video games, digital copies don’t save you money when you buy them, since they are priced for parity with retail. However, that’s not where the savings are to be found. Instead, the killer deal comes from services like Marvel Unlimited. I pay $10 a month for access to almost the entire back-catalog of Marvel Comics. Not to mention, even if you do buy comics, there are often sales or bundle deals on platforms like Amazon’s Kindle that do work out cheaper than at a store. Although, I’d still want to visit mom-and-pop comic book stores to look for deals on unsold stock or (in particular) high quality omnibus reprints.

The Quality Is Impeccable

While paper and printing technology has improved a lot, I really feel that nothing beats the mini-LED on my iPad for reading comics. Most of the digital comics these days are created using extremely high-resolution assets, and they are digital from cradle to grave. When it comes to older comics that were drawn on paper, the scans and restorations that are available beggar belief. This is possibly the best justification of the overkill pixel density of modern tablet displays, more so than video or text. Something I can appreciate on a tablet and not on paper because of my next point.

I Have Bad Eyesight

I was born with pretty poor eyesight, which means that I often can’t really read small print or appreciate small details on paper without considerable strain. On my iPad, I can pinch and zoom that comic so that one panel fills the entire 12.9-inch screen. Even my eyes can make do with that, and thanks to the aforementioned high-quality assets these comics consist of, there’s detail there for me to enjoy.

Guided Views Rocks

Many digital platforms have a “guided view” feature that basically turns each comic page into a series of slides. The screen moves smoothly from one frame to the next, guiding you along the page so that you read and see everything in the correct order. While you can still just read whole pages, I quite enjoy this feature when implemented correctly. Not only because it blows the segments of the page up to a large and easily-readable size, but because it helps make sense of a busy comic page.

I think for new readers this feature instantly makes comics intelligible and helps move the story forward. Even if you’re a comics veteran, it’s worth trying this out as an alternative way to enjoy comics.

I Can’t Keep Comic Series Straight

At this point in history, many comic book universes are basically a bowl of spaghetti, and when you go to a brick-and-mortar comic store, you’re only looking at the tips of that spaghetti spilling over the rim. You have to order back issues at the store to get what you want, and even if the person behind the counter is an expert, they probably don’t have all the series and issues straight either, and will have to look them up either way.

In contrast, when I open Marvel Unlimited, for example, I can easily select a path through the multiverse of comic issues. I can start with the first issue of Spider-Man (which you aren’t going to buy unless you’re a millionaire) and read it sequentially until the end of that run. Alternatively, I can read curated issues that cover a specific event, like Secret Wars, or just focus on a single character’s chronological adventures. Without this sort of guidance, I’d probably just give up.

I Read More Comics Than Ever

Digital comics on my iPad have proven to be so much of a better experience, that I read comics daily. I’m making up for all the stuff I missed in my on-again-off-again dabbling with the medium over the years. There’s such a rich tapestry of fiction to work through, that if giving up paper and ink is what I have to do, I’ll do it gladly.

That said, reading digital comics on my tablet has actually sparked a desire to buy some physical paper comic books. However, instead of buying the weekly pulp issues, I like high-quality volumes that contain multiple issues or other more premium reprints of important comics. So, in that sense, I also don’t want the little comic book store down the road to go out of business, I just want to buy something a little more upmarket from them, and leave the rest to the digital realm.