Importance of the Device

The most important decision that you can make, in terms of digital comics, is what device to use for viewing the comic books. After reading a lot of commentary across message boards and comments written on articles, I have noticed a disturbing trend; a large chunk of people complaining about how digital comics are not a good substitute for print comics have either not tried reading digital comics or they are using a device that isn't well-equipped to give the best experience to the user. Let's go through a few of the devices that are currently comic book enabled (I'm sure the one that I think is best won't surprise anyone):

• Smart Phones - It seems like this is the one that most people have used. That's kind of depressing because, honestly, this is the worse of the bunch. The screen is so tiny and can only fit one panel at a time (and even then it feels like that is pushing it). The user is forced to constantly flip the phone vertically and horizontally in order to get the best fit for the panel on the screen. The biggest reason this doesn't work is because you have no ability to view a whole page of a given comic book (at least not in anyway that you can also read it), so the pace of the panels is completely lost. This may be fine with some types of comic books, but it defiantly feels incomplete with comic books that are converted from print. I'll admit that I have occasionally done this when there is no alternative, but if this is the only form of digital comics you have tried, then you haven't truly tried digital comics.


• Computers - My first experience with digital comics was with a computer. That being said, it isn't the best experience. The main problem with a computer is that the aspect ratio of a computer is polar opposite of the aspect ratio of a comic book (landscape vs portrait). This greatly hinders the enjoyment of a comic book because you either have to view the whole comic book in only a portion of the screen (making it hard to read) or zoom into the comic book and scroll up and down to view the whole page. This becomes a major problem because it constantly reminds you that you are experiencing the comic book in an inferior way. Another big complaint I have is that most computers don't include a touch screen set up. This means that turning a page requires the press of a button or a click of a mouse. This may seem like no big deal, but it's another example of removing the reader from the experience. Again, in a pinch this works (and even better than smart phones, I might add), but it leaves a lot to be desired.


• Television - I have only done this a couple of times, so I'm not sure I'm the best to talk on this subject, but I'll try. Currently, the easiest way I can think of to accomplish the task of viewing a comic book on your TV is by hooking up your computer to your TV and using a remote. In the very near future I am sure that your video game console will be able to double for a digital comic reader as well. That being said, this seems to be a decent way of viewing digital comic books. The only real issues that come into play is that it isn't portable and you have the same issue of not being able to have the illusion of flipping the page. The issue of portability will always be there, but I could see something like Xbox 360's Kinect (a device that allows you to use your 360 without a remote) being able to alleviate the issue of page flipping. One huge plus of reading a digital comic on your TV (specifically a good quality HDTV) is that it looks beautiful. The colors pop and there is plenty of screen space for viewing the comic book. Still, if this is the only way you have viewed a digital comic book, you are missing out.


• iPad - Hands down, this device wins. The comic books look beautiful on it, it is the perfect size for a comic book page to display (ok, it could be a little bit bigger, but that's being nit picky) and the touch screen makes you forget that you aren't reading a print comic books. The only real problem with the iPad comes into play when you try to view a double spread page. Sometimes, because of the size of the screen on the device, this will require you to zoom in to read the text. Personally though, I'm ok with that, because the alternative would be a larger screen and that would ruin the portability of the device. Trust me, before you talk about your dislike for digital comics, you need to try reading one on the iPad. In fact, read a few, you'll end up forgetting that it isn't print.
  

All in all, there are a decent amount of devices that allow you to read digital comic books, but so far, none have come close to matching what the iPad does. The thought of being able to carry thousands of comic books around with you still blows my mind. Trust me, this is a really good time to be a comic book reader.