So we come to it at last.
Progless this past fortnight, I've finally decided to go digital (for now). Problem is, I hate reading comics on a screen. I've been working through Casefiles 5 on my phone and despite lovely crisp repro and great material, I'm just not enjoying the experience. Help me stop worrying and learn to love the bombe.
1. Software. I have at my disposal an ageing Samsung Galaxy Neo 5" phone running Marshmallow, an even older Android Lenovo 7" tablet and an older still 15" MacBook running El Capitan, which I spend too much time working on. What are my options re: free comics viewing software? I'm using Perfect viewer currently. I don't like it.
2. House of Tharg Delivery Vectors. How best to buy the digital prog/meg on an ad hoc basis? Pros and cons?
Many thanks in advance for your advice.
Welcome to the Darkside
On my Android device I've just been using the 2000ad app, but obviously that just depends are how far you are venturing into this evil realm. If you are just reading the Prog and Meg and otehr things from the store then that feels like the path of least resistance? ... though the recent update wasn't without issues.
Other than that I'm still to find the perfect reader on Android, folks seem to rave about Chunky (I believe its called Indigo prime (I think it is) is sure to be along soon to recommend that.
As for how again depends on your commitment but a sub is going to be the way to go. As with all things the bigger commitment the bigger the saving and they now do 2 years sign-ups.... must think about next time as lets face it I'm not going anywhere... the the zombies can read the new issues while chewing on my brains! But even a monthly sub for one or both offers savings so defo the way to go I'd suggest?
Chunky, absolutely.
While I would enjoy skipping those dastardly kiddie issues every so often, subscriptions are so cost-effective it's a no-brainer. But REAL comics hopefully last a bit longer. Will the collection's value (Tharg and non-Tharg) increase in the coming years? Could go either way, as the kids don't see the point in tree-based comics...?
Mumbling aside, I DO miss the Wednesday stroll to Smith's to pick up the prog. Took a wrench to kick that lovely habit..... (eek - 3 years ago now).
Cheers lads. Alas Chunky seems to be IOS only, anything good cross-platform? The Play Store is pushing Astonishing as an equivalent, that seem likely?
I've had no joy as yet getting the 2000AD App to install on Android. Or rather it installs, opens and then does nothing.
Physical comics are still where I get my kicks, even prefer floppies over collections, but when there's none about...
TordelBack: ComiCat is the best app I found for comics reading on Android. Last I saw, it was about three quid.
Quote from: FungusWill the collection's value (Tharg and non-Tharg) increase in the coming years? Could go either way, as the kids don't see the point in tree-based comics...?
I suspect collections will dwindle, based on the type of media. Judging by mini-G (5), shiny discs are already doomed. She wants instant telly, with what she wants to watch, there and then. Music is something piped in from Alexa or on her iPod. The notion of physical objects for music and telly are alien.
But she adores books and loves comics. She understands these things are on digital as well, but doesn't care for that. Perhaps this is because we are fortunate. We live in a nice area, with a decent library, and a school that sends the kids home with a reading book every day, and a 'library' (story) book every week. I also subscribed her to The Beano and Phoenix, and she devours those when they come in, and is collecting them, and re-reading them. (The Dandy annual was the big surprise — she has spend so many hours with that book.)
As for 2000 AD, who knows? Digital remains heavily reliant on people wanting the material but — crucially — finding value in it, rather than just ripping it off. But as I've long said now, if you don't support what you love, don't be surprised when it's no longer around.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 31 March, 2020, 10:18:31 AM
I suspect collections will dwindle, based on the type of media. Judging by mini-G (5), shiny discs are already doomed. She wants instant telly, with what she wants to watch, there and then. Music is something piped in from Alexa or on her iPod. The notion of physical objects for music and telly are alien.
Without wishing to derail too much in constrast to that stance - which is uttely understandable and probably good for the world - there's the fact that vinyl has become such a thing again. My local HMV has a massive vinyl section now which exceeds the follow space for CDs by far.
The things have become collectable and there's a clear attraction by 'da youth' to the physical artifact - though how many actually get played is a different matter as most come with a digital download I'm lead to believe.
The problem with the vinyl resurgence is that it's a tiny blip. It's an uptick in physical media sales that's barely a rounding error. There's visibility in certain stores, of course, but a lot of the vinyl thing is down to breathless magazine articles and advocates shouting loudly. That's not to say it isn't beneficial — because it certainly is to indies who can make older fans happy with a collectable item. But the harsh reality is the vast majority of people don't give the slightest crap anymore when it comes to music as a physical item.
Honestly, I'm in that category myself. My wife has a nostalgic attachment to our CD collection, which sits unused on our living room shelves. But it's a collection that largely ended about ten years ago. I do make some exceptions — Wire's hardcover book/CD albums are pretty great, but then you're really paying for a book at that point as much as the album. And physical books are still an easier sell — for now.
That all said, I do at least understand vinyl fetishism. What baffles me is people who laud cassettes. Tape was always a shitty medium for pretty much anything about from archival backups. As a consumer thing, it was relentlessly awful.
Thanks to companies not getting their shit together and agreeing on a universal format for download, I hate dedicated reading apps with a passion, so use a file converter to turn the comic into jpegs and then read in a simple viewer like Quickpic -though even native file browsers will do the job.
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 March, 2020, 10:05:37 AMI've had no joy as yet getting the 2000AD App to install on Android. Or rather it installs, opens and then does nothing.
Your specific Android OS is probably not fully compatible with the app. Usually it - or the app store - will tell you this ahead of an install, but not always.
I'm a huge music collector - the vinyl resurgence is a bit of a myth. Yes it's selling better than it has for a long while but overall sales of physical music are still dropping. I suspect most of the market for vinyl is people like myself with a some desposable income and a pre-existing fetish. A lot of it is being driven by limited collectors represses of big albums - usually done in short runs with fancy packaging. Or new releases which are being pressed in ever smaller runs (500 would be a lot for many of the indie labels these days) compared to the 90s that's nothing.
Anecdotally; I work making music software the younger staff in the office (mostly in their 20s) don't buy physical music despite most of them being musicians and very tuned into their respective music scenes. Most of them don't own a CD player at all and it's only a couple of the DJs who have actual turntables. As far as they're concerned music comes via Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud and other such streaming services. Or it exists as files on a USB stick or a hard drive which have either been purchased or torrented.
I've watched several long standing labels shut their warehouses and move to fully digital releases in the last year - I expect more to follow in the not too distant future. Pysical media as a medium for releasing music is basically dead.
Quote from: Professor Bear on 31 March, 2020, 12:27:17 PMThanks to companies not getting their shit together and agreeing on a universal format for download, I hate dedicated reading apps with a passion, so use a file converter to turn the comic into jpegs and then read in a simple viewer like Quickpic -though even native file browsers will do the job.
I'm not really sure there's a need for a universal format. Right now, there are three that are popular: PDF, CBR and CBZ. PDF is a thing all of its own, but CBR and CBZ are just RARred/ZIPped folders of JPEGs anyway. Any comics reader worth its salt will support PDF and CBR and/or CBZ. Moreover, dedicated comics viewers will offer a superior user experience to image browsing software — at least the decent ones will.
Quote from: sintec on 31 March, 2020, 01:01:47 PM
I'm a huge music collector - the vinyl resurgence is a bit of a myth. Yes it's selling better than it has for a long while but overall sales of physical music are still dropping.
Is it though? And I don't pretend to know for sure but a quick search - based on my surprise as if it taking increasing floor space to the extent it is locally there must be something in it, shows that vinyl sales have increased for 12 years straight and most surprisingly...
QuoteVinyl albums now account for one in every 8 albums purchased in the UK across digital and physical formats.
Source: https://thevinylfactory.com/news/uk-vinyl-sales-2019-growth-record-high/ (https://thevinylfactory.com/news/uk-vinyl-sales-2019-growth-record-high/)
Who could have a vested interest I admit!
Now other reports make it clear that its bottomfeeding stuff and the best selling record of 2019 sold like 29 thousand copies - which is like comic numbers BUT at £20-£30 a pop new that's still a thing I guess. Not suggesting it will ever get back to 80s levels, but there's certianly something there... isn't there?
Anyway sorry back on topic - comic digital formats ggrrrhhhhh...
This stuff's a minefield 🤔
While I did go digital a while back (sorry for not checking Chunky's Android unavailability...), I'm one of those lucky gets who buys vinyl these days. Bumping an LP on and enjoying that needle-crackle, it cannot be beaten. Want to program that track you like? Or [repeat]? You can't. I recommend it. Maybe it's having a major resurgence, maybe - as suggested - it's not. I like to think that doesn't and shouldn't matter.
And CDs have always been hateful and unreliable things...
This BBC article is six years old now, but neatly showcases the resurgence (the uptick is now somewhere along the lines of after the 1995 point): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30250358
Vinyl is likely to overtake CD, if it hasn't already; but that's an increase slice of a rapidly diminishing market. I suspect comics may end up in a similar space eventually, with streaming supplanting ownership. I kind of hope not though.
I have also been thinking about this. I was looking at Heavy Metal and they use Comixology which appears to be part of Amazon. I have not ventured yet but can I use another reader with stuff bought on Comixology?
Is their reader any good they have a follow mechanism or something I noticed when looking briefly. Any experience good/bad?
As for vinyl I have the 150 or so that I bought as a youth through the 80s and 90s. They are lovely things but overpriced these days. I like the CDs now just for convenience of space but it is nice to have the physicality of them to browse through.
It depends on the publisher with Comixology. In short, take a look at this page: https://www.comixology.co.uk/Saga-Vol-1/digital-comic/31384
If you see that downwards-facing arrow [EDIT: as in, the one in the row with language/age/HD/etc.], that means you on purchasing it will be eligible for a backup, accessible from My Books > Backups. Said files are offered in DRM-free CBZ and PDF. Personally, I think the Comixology reader is pretty good. It has plenty of options, and a panel view for smaller screens (although I personally never use that, because I want the 'full page' experience, and my iPad's large enough for that). The only negative with Comixology is those publishers that don't give you the freedom to download what you buy. Hence why I'll grab the likes of Marvel content in firesales, but won't touch it on Comixology otherwise.
Thanks IP and everyone, Comicat installed, last 2 progs purchased, and it's a marked improvement. The syncable bookshelf works great for sorting my PDFs books. Still seems to have trouble recognising double-page spreads on the prog/Casefiles (maybe not its fault) but it is smoooth and zooming and swiping very natural.
Have been using it for work PDFs most of the afternoon too, but it's going to take me some time to adapt to comics on the small screen, everything seems bitty and unimpressive...
Mm. 7in is quite small for comics reading. The iPad Pro (11in) is about right for me, although the smaller standard iPad is also OK. I didn't spot you mentioned you have a Mac to hand as well. If you fancy reading on that, Simple Comic is pretty good: http://dancingtortoise.com/simplecomic/
Being in the US, digital is the most cost-effective option for me. I still have hundreds of progs in boxes - and I loves 'em - but it's so much easier to browse my digital collection, store it, take screenshots for articles and such.
Reading them: well, it's a mixed bag. When a lot of artists went digital I started noticing that the printed version seemed dull compared. It's like back-lit content vs front-lit content. Light beams vs. pigment. Woah! Spliff-convo-fodder segue alert!
Anyway - I'm like Windows XP - I just read them as PDFs and tell the viewer to go two abreast and have a blank first page (so that the cover's in the right place).
Preaching to the converted: but keep buying yer Toofs!
For me the only option is digital. Getting magazines/comics trough the postal service is a disaster. I am not prepared to wait 3 plus months for the latest prog.
Quote from: Fungus on 31 March, 2020, 09:07:48 AM
Chunky, absolutely.
While I would enjoy skipping those dastardly kiddie issues every so often, subscriptions are so cost-effective it's a no-brainer. But REAL comics hopefully last a bit longer. Will the collection's value (Tharg and non-Tharg) increase in the coming years? Could go either way, as the kids don't see the point in tree-based comics...?
Mumbling aside, I DO miss the Wednesday stroll to Smith's to pick up the prog. Took a wrench to kick that lovely habit..... (eek - 3 years ago now).
I have just downloaded Chunky on my iPad to try it. I have also tried other apps and none of them seem to handle the double page spreads properly. Apart from Rebellion's own app.
Maybe I'm just not using them correctly.
Any advice?
Chunky usually shows the DPS if you flip it to landscape. Depends on settings though.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 31 March, 2020, 07:46:03 PM7in is quite small for comics reading.
But a perfectly adequate size in other arenas.
So much to comment on in this thread, so I'll try to keep it short!
Vinyl - still have mine and a record player to listen to it on (though I must admit it has been a few months since I listened to anything - I'll remedy that this weekend). Of all the music formats they provide the best canvas for the package (sleeve art, gatefolds, posters, transparent, marbled, metallic, glittery, pictured, glow-in-the-dark, shaped discs)*.
MC tapes - they hiss, they stretch, you can hear the backwards music from the other side, I could go on, you can probably tell I'm not a fan.
CDs - fairly convenient, I'll still buy them if I'm seeing a band live, though sound-wise I rip them and listen to the mp3s - I have plenty of CDs I've never listened to, directly. As they're digital there's nothing you can't hear on a CD you wouldn't also get by a downloaded format.
Streamed or from a website - I'm old enough to have listened to a lot of the music on mp3.com before it was bought and closed down by vivendi. I'm also old enough to remember when myspace was a good place to go to discover music you hadn't heard, which you could then download (because if you tried to stream it it'd be bitty and stop-starty as it buffered over a slow modem). p.s. myspace lost 50,000,000 mp3s five years ago, they didn't have a back-up!
Between hard drive crashes on a local level and company bankruptcies and takeovers the only sure way to keep what you pay for is to buy a physical copy. You're still vulnerable to loss through flooding or fire, but if that happens then media formats are going to be the least of your worries.
Tying this back to the original post - my local comic shop is closed for the time being but fulfling existing orders though as Diamond have suspended distribution then that means my prog and meg consumption is going on haitus. I'm not going to desert my FLCS and I also can't afford to buy digital from Rebellion as well as physical from FLCS. I have my prog slog to get me through the spring and summer though, and I'm only on prog 246. If I get to prog 2100 without any new progs, then I'll start to worry! Avoiding spoilers for however months may be challenging though!
* I have examples of all the above in my collection - not all in one disc!
Recently grabbed Comicat based on Indgio Prime's earlier recommendation in this thread - it is a marked improvement on Astonishing which I'd been using before.
A bit disappointed to find a lack of support for metadata though :( My digital music library is tagged with Artists/Album/Labels/Release date/Genre and I was hoping to apply a similar organisation to my comics. After a quick google it seems there isn't really a defacto standard way to do this. CBZ doesn't natively support metadata which has led to 3 different "standards" emerging with varying support across different apps. Meh.
Seems the best option with Comicat is just to use the filepaths to organise stuff - which is comparatively limiting. Is this really the best option or has my google-fu failed me?
I'd be keen to hear this too. Thanks to IP I've been using Comicat for many weeks now, and I'm a big fan of everything about it except the cataloguing. I can't be doing with folders, that's for work.
I am a deeply unimaginative digital comics reader. I have an ipad, and use the default Apps for 2000AD, Comixology, and on occasion Marvel Unlimited. They all work pretty well, and certainly the screen (11in I think) is big enough to read OK, even the double-page spreads. It's also small enough that I appreciate getting physical copies of comics that much more, especially Rebellion's trade collections.
I've already bought and downloaded slightly more comics than I can easily read each month, so my digital bookshelf is much like my real bookshelves...
AlexF: if you've an 11in iPad, do check out Chunky. It's really great, and the creator is a one-man indie.
I assume that Chunky can be used to read the prog on ?
I've downloaded Chunky but have no clue what to actually do to make comics appear within it - I assume there's some way to link this app to my 2000AD app? It might also be useful for reading stuff I've bought off Panel Syndicate, which I'm otherwise reading through the ipad's book reader app.
Like I said, I am an unimaginative guy when it comes to digital stuff. If it's not super obvious what to do, I'm unlikely to try very hard!
(Although I have tried making sense of Kek-W comics more than is advised)
Quote from: broodblik on 26 May, 2020, 07:49:43 PMI assume that Chunky can be used to read the prog on ?
Yes. You can load — from various sources — basically any DRM-free comic into the thing. (Which means PDF, CBZ, CBR, etc.)
Quote from: AlexF on 26 May, 2020, 08:05:53 PM
I've downloaded Chunky but have no clue what to actually do to make comics appear within it - I assume there's some way to link this app to my 2000AD app? It might also be useful for reading stuff I've bought off Panel Syndicate, which I'm otherwise reading through the ipad's book reader app. Like I said, I am an unimaginative guy when it comes to digital stuff. If it's not super obvious what to do, I'm unlikely to try very hard!
With 2000 AD, you can download your comics from the 2000 AD shop, which I would advise doing anyway, so you always have a copy somewhere, whatever happens. With Chunky, you can use its browser to grab stuff directly from any website, or upload files to it from whichever source you like.
If you're very much not tech-savvy, that might be a step too far. But if you store comics in Google Drive and can sign in, that's all that's needed. Or if you buy the IAP, you can grab comics from local PCs/Macs/servers. (I have a USB drive plugged into my router, and that's used as a cheapo sort-of NAS.)
Might be worth a look for your Panel stuff, mind. I can't really imagine reading too much comics stuff in the Books app.