Last week I gave you some Comixology hacks to make using the site more useful, and I promised at the end that I’d give you some alternatives to the site, and I’ve got three great alternatives for you!

Your local comic book shop

It sounds a bit basic and obvious, but your local comic book shop is a goldmine for comics! You can get the latest issues, maybe some back issues depending on the store, and so much more!

If you’re lucky enough to have a local comic book shop you can visit (I currently don’t, but I do have a few comic book stores I order from online via their website or ebay!), I highly encourage you to check it out and see what they have in stock!

Your library

Libraries aren’t just for books – they also have comics and manga’s to borrow too! I read all of my manga’s exclusively on the online library app Libby, along with several other comics, and what’s best is that it’s all FREE to read!

Yes, you may have to wait for the new books to come in, or for a copy to become available, but I’d say it’s a reasonable alternative to ComiXology, especially if you don’t have the space for hundreds of books on your shelves!

Publisher subscription

Subscription isn’t for everyone, as it can get very expensive if you’re subscribing to more than one publisher’s app, but if you know you read one the most, it could be worth signing up.

For example, Marvel’s subscription service, Marvel Unlimited, is £60 a month, has tens of thousands of back issues available, and gets new releases uploaded three months after they’re first released. I’ve had the service for a few months now and I absolutely love it – it’s saving me tonnes of money and space, as I’m not buying comics every other day, and is giving me the chance to read stuff I’d never heard of before.

If you can afford it, I cannot recommend subscribing to your favourite publisher’s app if they have one, it is a lifesaver!

Bonus mentions

Those are my best alternatives but I wanted to give you, but I also wanted to give you a few others as well, as extra bonuses!

Comic Con

If you don’t have a local comic book store, going to a Comic Con is a great bet to find comics. Of course, it will be a bit of a lottery as to what you’ll find, as it’ll depend on what the stalls have in stock, but you can find some absolute gems!

For example, here is a video from 2019 of my Young Adult Literature Convention and London Film And Comic Con (aka YALC/LFCC), and you can see the amount of comics (and books) I bought there.

Charity shops

Not all charity shops will have comics in stock – God knows I didn’t find any for the first eighteen years of my life – but when you can find, with luck, an absolute goldmine of old comics! I found Second Coming in a charity shop, and also managed to get it at a bargain price! If you’re looking for cheap comics, and a surprise as to what you’ll get (it will obviously depend on stock, what people have donated and bought), then keep your eye on the charity shops!

And that’s my best alternatives to ComiXology! I hope you found this useful, and you’ll find a new way to find and read comics! If you have any questions, or want some advice on what’s best for you, please do let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you ASAP!