Five Best Desktop Comic Book Readers. Reading paper comics is fun, but if you want to take a ton of great reads with you on your laptop, Read more Read. From all-in-one marketplace and reader apps to lightweight readers and Web comic viewers, here are our 15 favorite mobile comic book readers. Slide 1 of 16 Comics by Comixology (Android, iOS: Free).

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You have hundreds, maybe thousands, of comics in your collection, but how do you keep track of them? While some comic collectors may still use note cards or some other paper filing method, others have turned to a simple spreadsheet.

There is another option and if you have yet to check out software dedicated to comic book tracking, you may be missing out on some great features. You can save time and get more enjoyment from your collection with the right database.

Why Comic Collecting Software?

As a comic collector, you want to know what you already have and where your collection can use some improvement. You also want to do so quickly because there are more comics to find and read and the last thing you want to do is spend too much time managing your collection.

This is where a database software dedicated to comic book collectors is very useful. Many of these programs were developed by collectors just like you and they know what you want, what's important, and which features may just be unnecessary fluff.

The features in comic software tend to be similar from one developer to the next. Most will allow you to input your collection, track where you might be missing an issue or two, and let you build a wish list for your stash. These are important for the serious collector, particularly if you're investing in your collection and concerned about its value.

Even if you're a casual or beginning comic collector, you'll find that these programs will enhance your enjoyment as your collection grows. You won't have to physically search boxes to know which issues you have or which character made an appearance in a which books, the database takes care of all of it.

In short, the benefits of migrating your comic collection into a dedicated software program are many:

• Quickly and easily input your collection and add new comics as you acquire them.
• Search your collection by character, publisher, series, artist, year, etc.
• Discover issues that are not in your collection that may be vital to completing a particular run.
• Track the value of your collection and, with some software, get regular updates to any value changes.

If you're concerned about buying software and looking for a free option, consider this: you invested in your comic book collection. What's a few more dollars to ensure that you have a tracking program that does what you want, makes collecting more enjoyable, and won't be a waste of your time?

Try Before You Buy

Let's be honest, free is not always better and to get the most out of your comic tracking software, it's likely that you will have to pay a little bit. It really is worth it, particularly if you're going to put the time and effort into adding your entire collection to the database.

Before you purchase, though, you should take full advantage of the free trial that many of these companies offer. It may even be best to try a number of them with a small selection (50 or so) of your comics.

Compare each software and see how it works for you. Everyone is different and each collector has their own priorities and preferences for managing their collection. You may really enjoy the interface and value-tracking features of ComicBase or you might find that you like the typing-free feature of Comic Collector Live. Either way, you really won't know until you try it out.

Give yourself a fair amount of time with each program you're thinking about. Play around with it and explore the features, interface, and how it manages a sampling of your collection.

While evaluating it, keep these important features in mind:

• Inputting new comics
• Entering an existing collection
• Searching and browsing your collection
• Adding comics to your wish list

Giving the software a good and thorough trial run will save you a lot of headaches later. Imagine if you spent an entire month adding your entire collection to one program only to find that it doesn't do that single thing you really need or want. That is a collector's nightmare and a big waste of time.

Err on the side of caution before dedicating yourself to such a significant task.

3 Comic Software Options to Check Out

You will find a number of comic tracking software options available. Here are a few that our reviewers have checked out and recommend to some degree.​

1. ComicBase Professional: Offering free (with limitations) and paid software, ComicBase offers some of the best options and ease of use features among comic cataloging software. From inputting your comics to searching and setting up a wishlist, this is by far our favorite. It also stands above its competitors when it comes to determining the value of your collection.
2. Comic Collector Live: It seems that Comic Collector Live may have improved significantly since it was first released and it has many features that will interest a lot of collectors. Among those are downloads of full issue runs and an escape from having type in all the data yourself. The free trial is certainly something to check out though from there it runs on a subscription basis so you'll need to commit before inputting your entire collection.
3. Collectorz.com Comic Collector: Collectorz.com creates software for cataloging movies, music, games, books, and most importantly here: comics. While it does a nice job of managing your comic database, it does leave a bit to be desired in terms of updating values as the market changes. There is a free trial if you're interested.

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.

Best Comic Book Reader

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.

Best Comic Book Reader Pc

The application is available on Windows in both installer and portable flavors, plus 64-bit macOS and various Linux distro versions. The interface itself is a bit minimal for my taste, but it quickly disappears if you’re reading in full screen anyway. Sadly, though YACReader plays nice with all three major desktop platforms and can remotely serve files to iOS, there’s no Android client as of yet.

Comicrack: Windows

Though ComicRack comes in Android and iOS flavors, it’s Windows-only on the desktop. Which is weird, because it’s one of the more technical and analytical options out there. The tabbed interface supports reading multiple books at once, and its double-pane main view focuses on the user’s library or standard file browsing more than some of the other programs on this list. But for the comic enthusiast who’s serious about managing a large collection, this could be the best option.

Once you dig into ComicRack, you see it’s a little more forgiving than it appears at first glance, with a double- and triple-column option and a handy all-in-one page view. Double-tapping the F button will switch from standard fullscreen view to a minimalist windowed look—good for reading while you keep an eye on something else on your computer. It also functions as the most feature-rich viewer when used as a pure file manager.

SimpleComic: macOS

SimpleComic uses the fluid, and integrated user interface that was popular with mid-aughts OS X design to create what’s probably the simplest comic reader around. Though it supports all the common archive formats and includes the usual bells and whistles like double-page display and right-to-left reading, it does so with a minimal interface that will make you nostalgic for a Steve Jobs software demo. It’s probably the simplest and best-looking item on this list (with no particular care for libraries or tagging), so it’s a pity that the developer has only released a macOS version.

MangaMeeya: Windows

While you can certainly use MangaMeeya for western comics, it’s designed specifically for Japanese-style manga. This focus extends to more than just the right-to-left default page layout: the image display includes various tools that make black-and-white scans more visible and legible on computer screens, something that isn’t typically a concern for full color graphic novels. That specialization does seem to be a bit of a detriment for those looking for wider image file support or library tools, though—you’ll have to keep your files organized manually in Windows Explorer. On that note, it’s only available for Windows, more’s the pity.

Comic CBR, CBZ Viewer: Chrome

The Chrome Web Store isn’t exactly littered with dedicated comic viewers, but this seems to be the best among a very short field of contenders. The minimal interface can load up CBR or CBZ archive files wither from your personal Google Drive account or on your local machine. The super-simple interface offers one- or two-page views with standard or right-to-left reading, with the fullscreen option controlled by the browser itself. Like many Chrome extensions, this one is supported by advertising, and there’s no way to pay to get rid of the web-based ads. The extension will work on Chrome OS devices and more standard desktops, but with the options laid out above, there’s really no reason to use it on anything but a Chromebook.

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