Over the past year I have been searching for web sites where I can read comic books online for free . Guess what? There are loads of places to get free comics, and a lot of sites for online comic books too – but it has been difficult to find high quality sites which are legal. Nevertheless I persevered and have scoured the web looking for the best sites. (* See below for the criteria I used when searching for good sites) Anyway, I have finally come up with a list of what I believe are the 11 best sites for free, online comic books:
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Date: March 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman, Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: Thor battles an ancient dragon!
I used to love to watch the Godzilla movies when I was a kid. Yes they were kind of hokey, and I got great pleasure from making fun of the bad English dubbing – but there was something undeniably cool about the monster itself! That strange scream, its fire/electric breath and the way it stomped on Japanese cities were proof that Godzilla was different than your average dragon. Anyway, this issue reminded me of those old movies… well, except for the dubbing part.
Date: August 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 20 black & white pages plus “Letters to Akiko”, a 2-page mini-story and one house ad Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: Akiko and friends discover a mysterious island!
Have you seen the movie The Life of Pi ? It was a great and very fascinating show. This issue of Akiko kind of reminded me of that movie – what with all the crazy different creatures in the same boat, and the magic that eventually happens between them. A cool story – in both cases!
Date: June 1974 Publisher: Whitman Comics (Gold Key) Cover Price: 20¢ 2013 Price Range: $4.00 – $60.00 Stats: 27 color pages plus ads Writer and Artist: Carl Barks Notable Notes: A reprint of Uncle Scrooge #18 from June 1957
I have a special place in my heart for Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and the 3 nephews. I have loved these Walt Disney characters for a long time, and a big part of the reason for that love is that I read many duck comics (like this one!) when I was a kid. The great art, classic adventures and funny stories were a blast to read! After reading Uncle Scrooge #211 for the first post of this site I figured it was high time to give another one of these classics a try.
Date: August 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, J. Rosen and C. Scheele Notable Notes: 1st full appearance of Destro!
My collection of comics from the early ’80s has many holes in it, and sadly G.I. Joe is one of the titles that suffers greatly. After reviewing G.I. Joe #5 I found that this was the next issue I had – effectively skipping 9 issues! That sucks, especially since I realized that I’ve missed out on the little teaser appearances of one of my favorite G.I. Joe toys: Destro! Oh well, at least I have this book where he makes his first full appearance, and the story is actually pretty good too!
Date: September 1998 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $1.99 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus “American Graffiti” letters page, Bullpen Bulletins, fold-out gate cover and ads Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang, Chris Sotomayor and Todd Klein Notable Notes: Cap gets another new shield!
The relationship between Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter is kind of weird. It very much reminds me of the one between Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) and Natasha Romanoff (aka The Black Widow) – meaning that it is always on-again and off-again. I guess that’s the nature of long-term comic stories, but c’mon – those are 2 hot women and I think both men should just go for it! Anyway, here is another issue in which Sharon plays a big part in helping out her former lover.
Date: July 1988 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 29 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “Devil’s Advocate” letters page. Writer: Ann Nocenti Artists: John Romita Jr, Al Williamson, Joe Rosen, Max Scheele Notable Notes: “Blindspots” – where Matt has to make a lot of moral decisions!
Have you ever been attracted to someone when you know you shouldn’t be? (And if you say “no” I’ll think you’re lying!) I have – and yeah, its a strange feeling that’s for sure! How you act (or re-act) to that attraction is really the bigger and more important question, and in this issue we get to see Matt go through a roller-coaster of emotions as he tries to decide between the lovely Karen Page (with all her baggage) and the sweet, sexy Mary (with her crazy dual personalities!) Hmm… which one will win I wonder? I know who I’m rooting for!
Date: October 2000 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus a 6 page prequel of “The First”, house ads, “Delineations” letters page and “Generator” news column Writer: Barbara Kesel Artists: Joshua Middleton, Dexter Vines, Michael Atiyeh and Dave Lanphear Notable Notes: Sephie flies back to Meridian.
Have you ever piloted a small sail boat all by yourself? If so then I am extremely jealous! I never have, but I’ve always wanted to do that. It doesn’t help that I live in a land-locked state. The Great Salt Lake is nearby, and there are people who sail on it – so maybe I’ll have to give it a try. Anyway, those are the thoughts that came to my mind as I read this issue of Meridian – because in this book we find a young girl piloting a small air ship all by herself as she tries to flee home. Good stuff indeed!
A few weeks ago I discovered the very cool comic book site The Longbox Project when the owner contacted me asking if I would write a guest post. I happily obliged and my article is now up and viewable. Be sure to check it out, and while you’re there take a look around at some of the other wonderful stories on that very fun site!
When you’re done you can read my review of Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers #34 right here at The Comic Prospector!
Enjoy!
Date: May 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $5.00 – $70.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Spider’s Web” letters page. Writers: Roger Stern and Tom DeFalco Artists: Ron Frenz, Brett Breeding, Joe Rosen, Glynis Wein Notable Notes: Spider-Man dons new black costume!
I remember when Spider-man got his new black suit. It was cool and I totally enjoyed reading about it when I was a young teenager. Then I took a long hiatus from comic books and years later I had a difficult time wrapping my head around the concept of Venom. It took a while, but I finally got it. Anyway, I really enjoyed the black costume while Peter had it – and here is the first appearance (at least in a comic book) of that mysterious, alien suit!
Date: September 2012 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: $2.99 Stats: 20 color pages plus ads, “Fleet Week at DC Entertainment” and 2 pages of #0 covers Writer: China Miéville Artists: Mateus Santolouco, Tanya & Richard Horie, Steve Wands, Brian Bolland Notable Notes: Nelse and Manteau fix his phone!
Do long, gangely fingers equal alien or monster hands? I think so, at least in the comic book world. This issue has loads of stringy, creepy fingers and I’ll tell you right now they usually don’t indicate that sunshine and happiness are about to follow!
Date: October 1979 Publisher: Harvey Comics Cover Price: 40¢ 2013 Price Range: $7.00 – $1.00 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads and a 2 page text story Writers: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: It pokes fun of 2 popular 1970s TV series!
Do you ever watch old TV shows – like from the 1960s, 70s or 80s? I do, especially now that it is so easy to do with internet and video services like Netflix. I think “Bewitched” and “Magnum P.I.” are both still loads of fun to watch! Here’s an issue which brings to mind some of the popular series from the 1970s and makes use of one of the funnest characters in the Harvey universe to do so: Jackie Jokers!
Date: February 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman, Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: The end of the first Beta Ray Bill story arc.
I have long been a fan of both mythology and science fiction. Perhaps that is a big reason why the Thor comic series appeals to me so much – there are many elements of both genres within its covers. This issue is a great example as Thor and friends set out to do battle with aliens from another dimension. Ah… just one more reason to love comics!
Date: January 1984 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads, Krazy Knits and Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Dan DeCarlo Jr., Jimmy DeCarlo, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie meets the Ga-Ga’s!
I know this is a comic book, and that Archie is perennially lucky when it comes to girls, but I still want to visit his laundromat! How come the laundromats in this issue (and TV series and commercials everywhere) are always full of nothing but beautiful women? Sure, I’ve seen a few pretty girls when visiting laundromats myself, but nothing like this. Sigh, oh well.
Date: 1986 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and Wonder Woman preview Writer & Penciller: John Byrne Other Artists: Dick Giordano, John Costanza, Tom Ziuko Notable Notes: Clark returns to Smallville.
This issue brings to a close the 6 issue mini-series from DC. Overall it has been quite enjoyable, but I wish there would have been more seamless transitioning between the issues. To me it felt like each of them were one shots. Still, a very cool series and one I would recommend to any comics fan!
