Digital ComicsAlliance Recommendations: Check Out Green Lantern’s Light

Welcome to Digital ComicsAlliance, your headquarters for digital comics news and recommendations. This time around, we're going to recommend three Green Lantern stories for you, in honor of the recently released (and pretty okay) movie. We can get you started with the franchise on the ground floor, and even show you where to go when you're familiar.

1. Name: Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns

Creative Team: Geoff Johns (writer), Ivan Reis (pencils), Marc Campos (inks), Moose Baumann (colors)

Platform: ComiXology (iOS, Web, Android)

Price: $1.99 each

Format: #10-13

Why: Jump right into the mix. One of the best ways to get into comics is getting right into the thick of it. If you get swept along for the ride, you're good to go. This arc lets you have it both ways. It serves as a reintroduction to Hal Jordan and kicks off a new storyline. To make a long story short, Hal did something very bad some time ago, and now he gets to find out that actions have consequences. Johns has been helming the Good Ship Green Lantern for years now, and this story is pretty representative of his run. If you like it, buy the rest.

Creative Team: Dave Gibbons (writer), Geoff Johns (writer), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Christian Alamy (inks), Prentis Rollins (inks), Moose Baumann (colors)

Platform: ComiXology (iOS, Web, Android)

Price: $1.99 each ($0.99 first issue)

Format: Six issues

Why: Okay, you've got Hal Jordan--what next? The next step is the Green Lantern Corps, the group that gives Hal a chance to do his whole "You're not the boss of me! I'm a fighter pilot! I like bomber jackets in 2011! Back off, man!" shtick. They're space cops, the finest you'll see, and this is the story of how they reformed after disaster. If you want to know the wide variety of species and stories you'll see with the Green Lantern Corps, this is where to go. Earthborn Lanterns Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner return to Oa, Green Lantern HQ, to get acquainted with the new recruits and maybe save the world while they're at it. Expect space-spiders, weird aliens, and a whole lot of green.

Creative Team: Keith Champagne (writer), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Prentis Rollins (inks), Moose Baumann (colors)

Platform: ComiXology (iOS, Web, Android)

Price: $1.99

Format: #7-9

Why: Edgy, black ops superhero teams haven't really worked since the original X-Force, and they didn't really work back then, either. But, every major superhero team has to have its black ops side, including Batman Incorporated, and this is the one for Green Lantern. These stories usually come off a little corny, but this one is actually pretty good. Guy Gardner and a new recruit are inducted into The Corpse, a Green Lantern unit that operates without traditional rings and under altered rules of engagement. The Corpse can kill their enemies at their own discretion, rather than having to follow a certain rule or answer to a higher authority. They get black featureless costumes to go with the new gig, and a mission worthy of The Corpse's dirty tactics. This one's overblown in the right ways, with some pretty gory violence, gruff character types, and just enough surprises and new applications of old ideas to pull you in.

-ComiXology runs Marvel Mondays sales (wait for it) every Monday. Certain Marvel comics, usually ones from a specific series or united under a theme, are offered for half off. You can check their blog for the current sale on Monday mornings, and sometimes Sunday nights. Once Monday is gone, though, so is the sale. Keep an eye on their blog for other sales, too.

There are a few different ways to get digital comics right now. Here's a selection of the methods, listed by company in alphabetical order, and the formats they support:



Archie Comics (iOS)

Boom! Studios (iOS [identical to the Boom! offerings on ComiXology and syncs with your ComiXology account])

Comics4Kids (iOS [ComiXology for all-ages comics])

ComiXology (iOS, Web, Android)

Dark Horse (iOS, Web)

DC Comics (iOS, Web [identical to the DC offerings on ComiXology and syncs with your ComiXology account])

DriveThru Comics (CBZ, PDF, ePUB, and more)

Dynamite Entertainment (iOS,Web, Android [identical to the Dynamite offerings on ComiXology and syncs with your ComiXology account])

eManga (web)

Graphic.ly (iOS, Web, Android, Nook Color)

IDW Comics (iOS)

Image Comics (iOS [identical to the Image offerings on ComiXology and syncs with your ComiXology account])

iVerse's Comics+ (iOS, Nook Color)

Marvel Comics on Chrome (Web)

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited (Web)

My Digital Comics (PDF, CBZ, and more)

The Illustrated Section (PDF)

Square Enix Manga (web)

Viz Manga (iOS)

Yen Press (web)

There are a few things you need to know. You no longer need an iOS device (you know: iPad, iPod, iPhone), but you will need an internet connection, web browser, and, usually, Flash. Generally, you don't get to actually own your digital comics. You're paying to read them, and while this has been a fairly smooth process this far, that may rankle for some readers.

Are all these distributors different? Functionally, no, they aren't that different at all. Most of them allow for panel by panel reading (or a variation thereof) or page-based reading. The main differences are in selection. Frustratingly, certain comics are offered on several services, but released at different times. Marvel alone offers five choices. Most other publishers keep to one distribution method, and if they don't, they tend to keep their stuff mirrored across the various methods. If you want DC Comics, you're using ComiXology, for example, but Boom! Studios has comics on both. For Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, you'll have to pay a subscription fee. It's essentially Netflix for comics, however, so that may be worth it for you.

Personally, I use a mix of all the services, which is far from an optimal configuration, but one that works well. Poke around and see which one you like the most.

When do digital comics come out? Marvel has a weekly schedule, with an option for viewing the next month's releases. That's as close as you'll get to a release schedule. To see what's new on ComiXology, subscribe to this RSS feed. IDW generally releases books four weeks after they ship in print. ComiXology updates on Wednesdays, Graphic.ly updates throughout the week, and IDW's app updates on Tuesdays, with day-and-date books arriving on Wednesday. Dark Horse updates on Wednesdays. This category on iVerse's Comics+ site lists the updates for the week. Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited releases books every Monday.

I'll update with RSS feeds and landing pages that show new releases as they appear! If you're a digital comics publisher and you don't have a feed or page that users can visit... well, please create one. We'd all appreciate it.