People have been downloading movies and music and television shows on their computers for quite some time, but many are not aware that comic books can also be downloaded onto your computer. (I feel that I ought to offer something of a disclaimer, however, because downloading rather than buying comic books could cause serious problems for the comic book industry. Whereas I believe we will keep seeing the production of music and movies, mostly because downloading doesn't prevent but rather promotes social events like going to concerts or seeing films in theaters, excessive downloading of comic books without giving money or support to publishers could possibly destroy the entire comic book industry - goodbye Batman, Superman, Spider-man and the X-Men.) Comic books are made available as CBR or CBZ files, variations on RAR and ZIP storage files for use with various comic book viewing applications. When I first began downloading computers I became exasperated with these comic book viewing applications. There was always some sacrifice in the experience of the comic book, either pertaining to ease of use or limitations of viewing. I had gotten to the point where I simply changed CBR files into RAR files and CBZ files into ZIP files and used Windows Photo Viewer (for years!) to view my comic books.
Amy discovered a comic book reader called Comic Rack a little while back, an application that I dismissed immediately because of my troubles in the past. The more I saw Amy use it, however, the more I realized that this program was exactly what I needed. Not only was the user interface amazing, but it saved your place every time you closed the program and helped you to organize your reading order by manipulation of folders and lists within the program. I mostly read comic books in paper form in order to support the industry, but when I cannot find a particular issue or issues Comic Rack makes my reading experience just as pleasing as it might have been were I to have the physical copy in my hands.
Comic Rack can be downloaded here. Support the comic book industry, but whenever you need to download a comic book, make sure you read it with Comic Rack.
