Here are the best ways to read comic books on Windows 10

With Infinity War, Black Panther, and Deadpool 2 dominating the box office, it's a great time to start reading comic books. Windows 10 doesn't have a large number of choices, but the ones that are available do their job very well.

Cover

Cover is a lightweight UWP comic book reader. It supports a number of formats, including CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR, 7Z/CB7, CBT, PDF, and EPUB. The app doesn't contain any comics when you download it but if the comics you purchase are DRM-free and in one of those formats, you can read it in Cover.

Cover also has an easy import feature that lets you bring your entire library of comics into the app. You can choose to store those comics directly on your PC or in the cloud, so you don't take up valuable space on your PC.

It's free to download cover but the unpaid version is limited to viewing 25 comic books. If you want to fully unlock the app and manage as many books as you'd like, it costs $3.99.

See at Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

CDisplay Ex

CDisplay Ex isn't available through the Microsoft Store, but you can download it on your PC through their website.

It doesn't have the modern interface of Cover, but it supports all the standard comic book formats and doesn't take much power to run, though it's worth pointing out that I couldn't get PDFs to work in my testing. It opened a CBR book just fine.

You can install plugins to visualize the covers of each issue and CDisplay Ex has a tool built in that helps scans of older comics become more readable. You can also configure keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate the app.

CDisplay Ex is a throwback to an older version of Windows but has been in the comics industry for a long time, so it's worth a look. It's also free.

See at CDisplay Ex's website

Comixology within Edge

Comixology shut down its Windows app years ago, but you can still access your content on your Windows 10 device. Reading comics through Comixology's site isn't the same as using a native app, but it still delivers a good experience. You can only stream comics from the website, meaning you can't download them and read them when you're away from the web. This could be a deal breaker for some, but if you mostly read comics while relaxing at home or somewhere you have WiFi, then it isn't as big of an issue.

The benefit of using Comixology on the web is that you have access to any content you've already purchased or subscribed to through Comixology. Their library of content is massive, and Comixology Unlimited gives you access to a vast catalog without breaking the bank. The best way to read these comics from Comixology would probably be on a tablet with a dedicated app, but if you already have a subscription, you can easily jump into an issue of your favorite series on your PC.

While Comixology works on any browser, Edge has a nice full-screen mode and is touch-friendly, making your comic reading experience a bit more immersive.

There are free comics available on Comixology but for more content you can either buy individual issues or get a subscription to a series or Comixology Unlimited, the latter of which costs $5.99 per month.

Go to Comixology's website

Summing things up

Unfortunately for Windows 10 users, there aren't as many options for reading comics as you see for other categories of apps. That being said, the options that are available work well and cover a wide range of content. Whether you want a native UWP app, a classic Windows app, or to view your comics within your browser, there's a solution for you.

What are your favorite comics and how do you read them? Let us know in the comments below.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

15 Comments
  • Comic shows pretty good, too.
    I have cover to but it crashes sometimes.
  • Comic Show does look good and use some Fluent Design element too, which I think this app is new. This should be also in the list too.
  • I have Cover on my SP4, and it works pretty good. I have to give a huge shoutout to Madefire, though. It's a great Comixology alternative if you hate Amazon or want to read your comics offline, and they're slowly adding huge amounts of Marvel and DC back catalogues as well. There's a great UWP, but it does load a little slowly.
  • I've always liked the Nook app for all of my reading needs including comics.
  • Comics++ is the fastest and smoothest IMHO. After using Comics++, Cover seems pretty slow, but Cover is still a very solid one.
  • Readia is amazing too.
  • Just found it, looks nice too! There is a free trial too.
  • CDisplayEx on PC, Cover on mobile. Have to say Cover UWP native app is a treasure, I use it in my L930.
  • After trying several comic readers, I recommend Honeyview, though it's a Win32 app.
  • As a long-time regular comic book reader, I have tried many comic book readers in my day.
    I have went from CDisplay to CDisplayEx and never looked back.
    Until I found ComicRack. ComicRack. Nuff' said!
  • No mention of ComicRack? Really?
  • If there are just some premium small tablets from 7 to 8 inches Windows tablet, it might at least drive the development of reader apps a bit more and make more sense for Store having Books section. The amount of options for reading digital comics/manga and eBooks are there but relatively limited because of MS focus on tablets treating it as more like a laptop.
  • 🤔
  • Sumatra PDF!
  • I like Cover, although am working through trying some others. I just wish Windows supported Cbz/Cbr cover view right from File Explorer. Ended up having to use the rather fickle CBX Shell Manager to see and organize the collection from Explorer. It's about time Explorer and OneDrive just supported that format out of the box.