15 Best Sites to Read Comic Books Online for Free

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15 Best Sites to Read Comic Books Online for Free
15 Best Sites to Read Comic Books Online for Free

Reading comics brings loads of entertainment but unfortunately, this doesn’t come cheap. However, we have found the 15 best sites to read comic books online for free for comic enthusiasts in need of free comic books.

Regardless of what genre of comics you read, you will never run out of comic books with the 15 best sites to read comic books online for free. Luckily, most of these websites do not charge a subscription fee; you can read or download comic books for free.

Ever since the beginning of the digital era, books in print have gone out of style. Most people now prefer to read books on their laptops, phones, tablets e.t.c. This also includes comic books, most top comic publishers now provide digital formats of their comic books.

In this article, we will be sharing with you the top comics publishing companies and places to find their books for free. Without any further ado, let’s get started!

What are Comic Books?

Comic books are books or magazines that use sequences of drawings to tell a story or series of stories, usually in serialized form.

Most comic books are fiction, which can be categorized into different genres: action, humor, fantasy, mystery, thriller, romance, sci-fi, comedy, humor e.t.c. However, some comic books may be non-fiction.

Top Publishing Company in the Comic Industry

If you are a new comics reader, then you should know the big names in comic book publishing. These companies have most of the best and most popular comic books of all time.

Below is a list of the top comic publishing companies:

  • Marvel Comics
  • DC Comics
  • Dark Horse Comics
  • Image Comics
  • Valiant Comics
  • IDW Publishing
  • Aspen Comics
  • Boom! Studios
  • Dynamite
  • Vertigo
  • Archie Comics
  • Zenescope

If you are a new comic reader, you should start with these comic books:

  • Watchmen
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
  • The Sandman
  • Batman: Year One
  • Batman: The Killing Joke
  • V for Vendetta
  • Kingdom Come
  • Batman: The Long Halloween
  • Preacher
  • Sin City
  • Saga
  • Y: The Last Man
  • Maus
  • Blankets.

15 Best Sites to Read Comic Books Online for Free

Below is a list of the 15 best sites to read comic books online for free:

1. GetComics

GetComics.com should be your go-to-site if you are a fan of both Marvel and DC Comics. It is also one of the best sites to download comics from other comic publishers like Image, Dark Horse, Valiant, IDW e.t.c

GetComics allow users to read online and also downloaded comics free without registration.

2. Comic Book Plus

Established in 2006, Comic Book Plus is the premier site for legally available Golden and Silver Age comic books. With more than 41,000 books, Comic Book Plus is one of the largest digital libraries of Golden and Silver Age comic books.

Comic Book Plus provides users with comic books, comic strips, newspapers, and magazines. It also has comic books in other languages apart from English: French, German, Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese e.t.c.

Unfortunately, Comic Book Plus doesn’t provide modern-day comic books. Books provided on this site will expose you to how comic books started and how they have evolved.

3. Digital Comic Museum

Just like Comic Book Plus, Digital Comic Museum doesn’t provide modern-day comics, instead, it provides Golden Age comic books.

Established in 2010, Digital Comic Museum is a digital library of comic books in public domain status. DCM provides the digital format of comic books published by old comics publishers like Ace magazines, Ajax-Farell publications, D.S publishing e.t.c.

Digital Comic Museum allows users to read online without registration but to download you must register. Users can also upload comic books, provided the books have attained public domain status.

Digital Comic Museum also has a forum where users can play games, get help with downloading, and discuss comic-related and non-comic-related topics.

4. Read Comic Online

Read Comic Online provides comic books from different publishers: Marvel, DC, Image, Avatar Press, IDW publishing e.t.c.

Users can read comics online without registration. You can also choose the quality you want, either low or high. This will help you save some data.

The only shortcoming of this website is that it can redirect you to other websites. Nevertheless, it is still one of the best sites to read comics online for free.

5. View Comic

View Comic had a lot of popular comics, especially comics from top publishers like Marvel, DC, Vertigo, and Image. Users can read full comics online for free in high quality.

The downside to this site is that it has a poor user interface. You may not like how the website looks. But it is still one of the best sites to read Comic books online for free.

6. Webtoon

Webtoon is home to thousands of stories across 23 genres, including romance, comedy, action, fantasy, and horror.

Founded in 2004 by JunKoo Kim, Webtoon is a South Korean Webtoon publisher. As the name implies, it publishes webtoons; compact digital comics in South Korea.

You can read online for free without registration. However, some books may be paid for.

7. Tapas

Tapas, originally known as Comic Panda is a South Korean Webtoon publishing website created by Chang Kim in 2012.

Just like Webtoon, Tapas publishes webtoons. Tapas can either be accessed for free or paid for. You can read thousands of comics for free, so it is not compulsory to pay for a premium plan.

Taps is a site where indie creators can share their works and get paid. In fact, it has more than 73.1k creators of which 14.5k are paid. There are also books originally published by Tapas called “Tapas Originals”.

8. GoComics

Founded in 2005 by Andrews McMeel Universal, GoComics claims to be the world’s largest comic strip site for online classic strips.

If you don’t fancy comics with long narratives but prefer short comics, then check GoComics. GoComics is the best site to read short comics in different genres.

GoComics has two membership options: Free and Premium. Luckily, the free option is all you need to read comics online. You can sign up for a free account and have access to a wide selection of comics.

9. DriveThru Comics

DriveThru Comics is another site to read comic books online for free. It has a wide collection of comic books, manga, graphic novels, and magazines for both kids and adults.

However, DriveThru Comics does not have DC and Marvel Comics. Is that enough reason to write off this site? No! DriveThru Comics provides quality comic books published by other top comic publishers like Top Cow, Aspen Comics, Valiant Comics e.t.c.

DriveThru is not totally free, users can read the first issues of a comic for free but will have to purchase the remaining issues.

10. DarkHorse Digital Comics

Founded in 1986 by Nice Richardson, DarkHorse Comics is the third-largest comics publisher in the US.

A digital library called “DarkHorse Digital Comics” was created so that comic lovers can have easy access to DarkHorse Comics.

However, most of the comic books on this site have price tags but you can read some comics for free online without registration.

11. Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is another site where you can read comics online for free. However, Internet Archive was not created to provide comic books only however it has some popular comic books.

You can find many comic books on this site, all you have to do is to search for the books you wish to read. These comic books can either be downloaded or read online.

The downside to this site is that it doesn’t have a wide collection of comic books like the remaining best sites to read comic books online for free.

12. ElfQuest

Created in 1978 by Wendy and Richard Puri, ElfQuest is the longest-running independent fantasy graphic novel series in the USA.

Currently, ElfQuest has over 20 million comics and graphic novels. However, not all ElfQuest books are available on this site. The site contains ElfQuest books that are available for users to read online for free.

13. ComiXology

ComiXology is a digital distribution platform for comics founded in July 2007 by Amazon.

It has a wide collection of comic books, manga, and graphic novels from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and other top publishers.

However, ComiXology functions mainly as a paid digital distributor for comics. Most comic books are paid for but there are some comic books that you can read online for free.

14. Marvel Unlimited

This list will be incomplete without Marvel: one of the world’s biggest comic publishers.

Marvel Unlimited is a digital library of marvel comics, where users can read over 29,000 comics. You can only read comic books published by Marvel Comics on this site.

However, Marvel Unlimited is a digital subscription service by Marvel Comics; This means you will have to pay before you can access the comic books. Although, Marvel Unlimited has a few free comics.

15. Amazon

You may be wondering if this is possible. Amazon provides all kinds of books, including comic books. However, not all comic books on Amazon are free, In fact most comic books have price tags.

To read comic books for free on Amazon, search for “free comic books”. This list is usually updated, so you can always go back to check for new free comic books.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I start Reading Comics?

If you are a new comic reader, ask your friends that read comics about their favorite comic books. You should also follow blogs that write about comic books. For instance, Newsarama We have also shared some of the best comic books to read, make sure you start reading these books from the first issues.

Where Can I Buy Comic Books?

Comic readers can get digital/physical comic books from Amazon, ComiXology, Barnes and Nobles, Things From Another World, My Comic Shop e.t.c. These are the best places to get comic books online. You can also check local bookstores for comic books.

Where can I read Marvel and DC Comics Online?

Marvel comics lovers can get the digital format of marvel comic books on Marvel Unlimited. DC Universe Infinite provides the digital format of DC Comics. These sites are not free you will have to pay. However you can read DC and Marvel Comics online for free on these websites: Read Comic Online, GetComics, View Comic, Internet Archive e.t.c.

Can I read comics online without downloading them?

Yes, most of the websites mentioned in this article allow users to read comics online without downloading.

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Conclusion

Whether you are a new comic reader or you want to read more comics, the 15 best sites to read comic books online for free have got you covered.

However, some of these websites may not be completely free but they still offer a significant amount of free comic books.

As a comic enthusiast, we’d like to know your first comic book, your favorite comic publishers, and your favorite comic character. Let us know in the Comment Section.