Finding old, out of print comic books online?

November 23, 2004 6:07 PM

Digital Comics: I'm looking to download .cbr and .cbx archives of comic books. Not so I can steal the latest X-Men book (though I know piracy is rampant in this sphere), but so I can read interesting and long out of print books on my computer. The Metal Men, for example, fascinate me.

The trouble is, I can't seem to find any repositories of old comics via Google, BitTorrent, etc. I know they're out there - any help?
posted by aladfar to media & arts (12 answers total)

Are you already aware of the binaries groups on Usenet? As far as I know, there are a few IRC channels associated with the binaries groups. Talking to the people who post scans regularly there might get you access to the archives of scans from the groups-- I know that people have scanned and posted a ton of vintage stuff there over the years.
posted by Chris Freiberg at 6:27 PM on November 23, 2004

Hah. Funny, I just found out about this the other day. There are websites around... so far the best one I have found so far is Z-Cult FM (annoying flash intro), which lists torrents. You can search through their trackers. There is also a DC++ hub listed there but they have pretty strict sharing rules i.e. you must have a bazillion gig of comics to share before you get any. I am only a newbie at this so others may have better info.

I love comics. I just wish I could take my 19-inch monitor on the tram, to the john etc. My eyes were positively bleeding the other morning from reading these.

But stealing stuff is like, bad, y'know so...
posted by bdave at 7:07 PM on November 23, 2004

Plus I couldn't really see any old ones. A friend of mine just got the entire ROM Space Knight comics from DC++ however. Took days to download. I may be able to 'help' you build up your share of comix, email me if you want from my profile.
posted by bdave at 7:17 PM on November 23, 2004

Kinda OFF-TOPIC, but whoop! this kind of thing is a digital collagists dream.

"You mean you've scanned your entire golden age comic collection into 32 bit Targas?"

Perfect!
posted by undule at 7:21 PM on November 23, 2004

I'm no help, but I DO often wonder if the major comic companies would ever crack down on this type of thing. Old comics are rarely reprinted, after all, and it's a shame not to be able to share them. I have quite a few classics I'd like to scan and make available myself. Basically, Marvel or DC would have to be huge assholes to ever litigate against this type of "file sharing."

Aren't those big old pixels great in scans? A joy from a simpler time...
posted by Shane at 7:42 PM on November 23, 2004

Even the old ones that are reprinted are in black-and-white on newsprint (for cost reasons), which almost seems worse than not printing them at all.
posted by smackfu at 8:20 PM on November 23, 2004

Oh, yeah -- ditto on the Metal Men. So campy stupid yet so compelling cool, heh.
posted by Shane at 8:31 PM on November 23, 2004

The cover of Metal Men #20 contains my favorite title ever, in any medium:

"Birthday Cake For A Cannibal Robot!"

It's so fantastically absurd. Metal Men rule.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 9:06 PM on November 23, 2004

Check your email...
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:41 PM on November 23, 2004

1- get a Direct Connect client (I use ReverseConnect, as it can swarm downloads)
2- download a hublist, filter by "comics"
3- join 4-6 comic sharing hubs
4- search
5- download

DC hubs are notoriously run by 15 year olds who love to kick people for no reason, so share at least 1Gb and be polite.

Second the Z-cult link, it's very,very good.

Email me for hub recomendations or "trading" stuff. (My comics folder is 20Gb).
posted by signal at 5:20 AM on November 24, 2004

I think the companies are starting to realise the potential - I believe Spideys back issues were recently released in digital format (officially)?
posted by Mossy at 6:14 AM on November 24, 2004

Metal Man #20 was one of the first comics my dad bought for me.

Oh the memories.
posted by Stynxno at 7:40 AM on November 24, 2004