Best iPad app for comic book reading: Comic Zeal review
"If you already have comics in a digital format, Comic Zeal is simply the best way to read them on your iPad."
Comic Zeal is currently the best app for reading comics on your iPad. Whether you're a member of the mighty Marvel marauders, a dedicated DC-for-lifer, or someone who prefers the alternative and independent sequential art scene, if you already have your comics in a digital format -- especially if you bought those massive Marvel DVDs containing all the early issues of Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc. in PDF -- Comic Zeal should be your go-to reader.
While reading, needful settings are only two taps away
You can sync PDF, CBR/RAR, or CBZ/ZIP files straight over to Comic Zeal from iTunes via file sharing if you absolutely have to, and with Wi-Fi sync it's easier than ever. I just drop mine into Dropbox, hit the Dropbox app on iPad, download them, hit the action button, and tell Dropbox to open them in Comic Zeal. It would be nice if Comic Zeal could hook into Dropbox (and other online storage pools) directly, eliminating a step. Here's hoping we get that in the future.
Grid view and display settings offer powerful organization and presentation options
Comic Zeal also has a lot of great options for organizing and displaying your comics, including by series and in a grid, so you can more easily find the issue you want, when you want. You can choose between swiping or tapping -- or both -- to change pages, tapping or hitting a button -- or both -- to show and hide the navigation tools, and a variety of other features, including zoom. Alas, you there's no tactile way to manipulate your comics (you can't put them into "jiggly mode to re-arrange or delete them, or put them into folders), and turning pages lacks the iBooks-style animation and doesn't feel as crisp as it ought to.
Sadly, even the built in help can't explain the lack of iPad-like direct object manipulation
The good
- Fast, well organized, good options and controls, and did I mention fast?
- Supports popular formats like PDF, CRB, and CBZ.
The bad
- Lacks iPad-like tactile manipulation and page turning.
- Lacks integration with popular online storage services like Dropbox.
The conclusion
If you already have comics in a digital format, Comic Zeal is simply the best way to read them on your iPad.
$7.99 - Download
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler. Follow him on Twitter @reneritchie
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FAIL. The best comic book reading app out there is ComicGlass. By far.
I would have to agree with macsmister ... ComicGlass is a lot better for 2 main reasons
1) when you import files into ComicGlass it keeps the file integrity unlike ComicZeal which converts the file to folder and jpg files.
2) ComicGlass also includes a server client app that allows you to access yor collection from anywhere.
I do have to say that ComicZeal has a beautiful interface but when it comes to functionality ComicGlass is top notch
Hope that helps ;O)