July 2008

How to Read Comics on Your iPhone 3G

"Is it possible to read comics on my new iPhone 3G?" was the first question on my mind after I finally got my hands on my new geeky gadget. I bet with all the new iPhone apps, somebody makes a .cbr reader for iPhone, right?

I got the iPhone 3G because it's a tiny little Internet browser (I don't even use it as a phone right now). I'm kind of addicted to reading the various comic book blogs, and I love the idea of being able to surf the comic-blogosphere while waiting in line or during bumper-to-bumper traffic. Kidding on that last one. For now.

I decided to see if I could find out how to read comic book scans on my iPhone. First stop: see if there is a comic book reader iPhone app that does the trick...hopefully an iPhone app that can read cbr cbz and pdf comic book scans. A Google search brought up a couple candidates, but they're hacks that require you to "jailbreak" your iPhone (in other words, hacking the iphone software and reprogramming it yourself). Look...I just spent a good chunk of change on this pretty gizmo...I'm not interested in "cracking" it! Nope...not going THAT route.

The built-in Photo viewer works pretty well, so I created a folder containing some Bob Hope comic scan jpegs. I created that comic folder by unzipping a standard .cbr comic book reader file into separate jpegs. I do that by changing the cbr extension to rar and then unarchiving them. Then I synced that image folder with my iPhone...

Good idea, but when I viewed the comic pages on the iPhone, I found them to have been magically degraded in resolution...so much that images were too blurry to comfortably read. What gives? Turns out that the iPhone automatically "optimizes" (=ruins) the images when you import them. No workaround for this yet.

PDF files don't get degraded when you import them into your iPhone, but the iPhone needs a native PDF reader even more than it needs a comic book reader application. The only way to get a PDF file into your iPhone right now is to email it to yourself and read it as an attachment. I don't want to wait for a 35Mb download over the iPhone's bandwidth. Not a viable solution IMHO.

iPhone 3G used as a cbr cbz pdf comic book reader

Lastly, I used screen-capture software to take screen-caps of the individual panels of a comic story. I used SnagIt (which I love dearly...it's like Photoshop for screengrabs) to capture and compile a folder full of single-panel -- or sometimes single-tier -- images which I then put in a folder and synced to the iPhone. This approach actually produced a nice readable iPhone comic!

how to read comic books on your iPhone 3G cbr reader

The only problem with this method was that it was extremely tedious and time-consuming to make individual captures of all those panels. Sigh.

All of the images above are panels from Foxy Fagan #1, imported into the iPhone by the last method I described.
I'm sure there's gotta be a better way... if any of you readers have any suggestions on how to read comics on an iPhone, I'd love to hear about them in the comments section!

Update!
I've just started a brand-new blog:

iPhoneComicBookReader.com

Come and click on over
for regular updates to the
iPhone comic-app scene.

For more discussions and info about
how to read comics on your iPhone,
check out the following links:

More links about using iPhone as Comic Book Reader:

Still More iPhone 3G comic links...but just for fun ^_^

Pretty funny comic about iPhone fever

Peanuts Comic Books -- Great Overview at ComicArtVille.com

Charlie Brown and Schroeder are playing marbles in this Dell comic book story featuring Charles Schulz' Peanuts

There's a really great article at

http://www.comicartville.com/peanutscomics.htm

all about "Peanuts: A Comic Book History"

Charlie Brown is running to tell his friends about the Parade in town

In the words of the author,

"It was fandom's first known attempt to collate all the information together about the comic book appearances of Schulz's Peanuts characters."

Check it out at:

http://www.comicartville.com/peanutsco

Amazon.com Widgets

Mighty Mouse Comic Book Scans at the Classic Cartoons Blog

There a sweet 15-page Mighty Mouse comic book scan over at
Duck Dodgers' Classic Cartoons Blog!

Click on the splash page above to go see all FIFTEEN delicious pages of funny-animal super-heroics courtesy of Duck Dodgers! There's lots of other comics and cartoons to look at when you get there, so get ready for some good ol' fashioned classic cartoon fun!

Sheldon Mayer Funny Animal Comic Book Scans Links

...and now as a remedy to the horrible funny animal comics I posted yesterday, I'd like to share a link to a really cute Funny Animal comic book story by Sheldon Mayer.

From Kevin Langley's Cartoons, Model Sheets & Stuff, here's Dizzy Dog!

Cartoon rabbit flies through the air whoile drying his dishes in this comic drawing by Shelly Mayer
I love this hapless rabbit flying by while still drying his dishes.

Dizzy Dog freaks out when he hears that Bully Bear is back in town
It's a fun story with a simple set-up...but it's the joyful drawing and storytelling by Shelly Mayer that makes reading this story feel like a cool breeze on a summer day.

Bully Bear goes face-to-face with Dizzy Dog in this funny animal comic book story by Sheldon Mayer
Go take a look at Dizzy Dog!

...and there's a nice overview of Shelly Mayer's life and work at Thad's Blog.
Sheldon Mayer life and work
There are a lot of links to more comic scans and other Shelly Mayer goodies to browse thru.Go take a look!

Really Scary Funny Animal Comics - Karrots from All Good Comics 1944

Funny animal comics aren't supposed to be this creepy and scary. I feel like I'm recovering from a concussion or from food poisoning when I read this. It's not just horribly written, but the bad drawings are strangely compelling.

Dig that crazy tangent in the fifth panel of the last page. Ouch.

In case you thought the whole comic can't be this bad, here's a Prof. Nudnik one-pager from the same comic that'll make you go, "Huh?"

Umm...yes. That's it. End of story. Okay...Check back tomorrow for some really GOOD funny animal comics...I promise!

Dan Gordon Comics Reprints in The Comics Journal #291

A number of months ago, after posting a bunch of Dan Gordon comic stories on the CartoonSNAP blog, I got an email from Michael Dean, the editor of The Comics Journal. He asked to borrow some Dan Gordon comic books so they could scan them and run the color pages in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

ACG Comics images © Roger Broughton 2009

cartoon dog, rabbit, owl, cat and horse in this comic drawing by animator Dan Gordon

Of course I said YES because I would love to have a part in helping comics readers discover the unbridled joy of the comic art of journeyman cartoonist and animator, Dan Gordon.

The Comics Journal made super-high-resolution scans of Cookie and Funny Films for inclusion in their full-color comic-reprint section. I can't wait to see what it looks like. They even asked me to write an introductory article for the section -- only problem with that was I didn't really know that much about Dan Gordon's life. So I put out a call for help!

Cookie Comics by Dan Gordon -- Cookie, Jitterbuck and Angelpuss have a picnic at the beach

ACG Comics images © Roger Broughton 2009

Fortunately, there are a lot of cool cartoonists and comics-aficionados who were more than eager to help me fill in the gaps. Thanks to: Mike Kazaleh, Kent Butterworth, Scott Shaw, Leonard Maltin, Mark Kausler, and Milton Knight, who were all very generous with their time and knowledge.
Of course, any shortcomings that may be in the article are mine, but there's no doubt that the big Dan Gordon comics section will look fantastic!

The Comics Journal #291 comes out TODAY... Wednesday July 16th, so If you'd like to have some full-color Dan Gordon comic book reprints on real paper (rather than reading them on your computer screen), make sure to pick up issue #291 of The Comics Journal at your local comics shop, bookstore or Amazon.com.

Update:

I just looked through the finished printed copies of the book on the stands at my local comics shop, Burbank's awesome House of Secrets. Bottom line: Fantagraphics did a great job with the reproduction and printing. The comics look sharp and clear, but still retain that "old comics" yellowed-page look.
There are 32 full-color pages which include a Cookie story, two funny animal comedy comics starring Puss and Boots from ACG's Funny Films, and one story of the rabbit inventor, Blunderbunny!

George Carlson's Fantastical Comics: The Pie-Face Prince of Old Pretzelburg

George Carlson worked on a completely different plane than his cartooning contemporaries. The fanciful cartoon worlds that he created for Jingle Jangle Comics look fresh and new even after 65 years!

This opening panel really gets you ready to dive in to his nonsensical fairy-tale comedy adventures!

The Pie-Face Prince of Old Pretzleburg was a series that ran in George Carlson's Jingle Jangle Comics from 1942 to 1949. This untitled episode is from issue #6, December 1943.

A few selected panels to whet your appetite for the full tale below:

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-03-cabbage-taxi

"Taxi Cabbage"...I love that!

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-04-taxi-cabbage-smoking-moon

That's one smokin' moon!

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-05-prince-lost-in-the-forest

Look at the cartoony faces on the trees

and that cute little hat on the sun.

Pie-Face gets kicked out of the taxi cabbage and finds himself

in a cave full of witches, bats and spiders...

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-06-prince-enters-cave-of-witches

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-07-cartoon-witches-fly-on-brooms-in-front-of-full-moon

George Carlson uses the panel borders to enhance

the creepy mood of this spooky panel of fly-by-night witches...

The page below is a great example of

George Carlson's beautiful panel and page layouts.

The cropped panels lose the visual magic and impact of the full-page,

so make sure you check out the big hi-res scans below

if you wanna see what happens next...

cartoon sailor rowing with fork and spoon while a green dragon sits behind smaoking a peppermint candy cane pipe George Carlson Jingle Jangle cover scan Pretzelburg

Click on any thumbnail to open a BIG high-resolution comic page scan

Click on the thumbnails for BIG hi-res comic book scans

George-Carlson-Pie-Face-Prince-09-ghost-the-end

Truly a feast for the imagination!

This entire issue #6 is available for download

at Golden Age Comics Downloads

...but make sure you follow the instructions at

the bottom of this>> Cookie Comics << post

to avoid frustration.

At The Golden Age Comics Downloads website, you'll find tons of scans of obscure old public domain comic books to download in .cbr and .cbz formats. If you don't know how to view a .cbr or.cbz file, don't worry - it's easy. Read this informative article on digital comic book formats:

Digital Comics Unleashed (CBR/CBZ)

For more about George Carlson and his trippy tales, see:

Biography of George Carlson by Jim Vadeboncoeur

George Carlson Obituary and Timeline

Four Page story at:

Crumbling Paper: George Carlson’s Pie-Faced Prince of Pretzleburg - strip #1

Supermouse - First Adventure of a Funny Animal Superhero

Supermouse has his first adventure in this comic book scan from the outstanding Nedor-a-Day comics blog!

Supermouse is flying as he carries two masked crooks in this golden age funny animal comic book scan

Read the Origin of Supermouse HERE

Here are some other Supermouse adventures online. The pictures below link to Supermouse scans at the Asifa-Hollywood Animation Archive and Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blog. Take a look...they're loads of fun!

Click on the images below to jump to the comic book pages

Comic Book Cover scan - A costumed flying cartoon mouse named Supermouse flies past a cartoon character who rides on a magic flying carpet

Supermouse walks into a top-secret room with a vault door

Supermouse swings a cutlass in this swordfight scene aboard a cartoon pirate ship

Click on the images below to jump to the comic book pages

...and if you like Supermouse, you'll probably wanna see these pages from another funny animal hero: Super Rabbit

Funny Stuff if you're a Comic-Nerd Like Me

Just to be clear: The video starts with the new trailer for The Dark Knight (which I'm diggin' a lot) but what's funny is the comedy short series called Kyle Piccolo - Comic Shop Therapist

Click to play

...of course if you're NOT one of us comic book addicts who can't miss their Wednesday comics infusion, you may not agree. Anyway. Made me chuckle ^_^ More episodes at http://www.kylepiccolo.com/

Funny Animal Comic Book Scans from Thad K.

In the last few months, Thad K's classic animation blog has featured a beautiful pile of funny animal comic book scans by some of the greatest cartoonists of the golden age of cartoons! Here's a quick set of links to help you find and devour them!

(Click on any of the images below to jump right over to the full-page comic scans on Thad's blog.)
Fox & Crow Comic Scans by Jim Davis