Native Digital Comics
Stela is a comics reading app for iOS from the publisher of the same name. It offers access to exclusive digital comics that are designed specifically to be read on smartphones. It is currently free, with the option for a $4.99 monthly subscription as an in-app purchase.
What Works
Stela offers a wide variety of niche titles, including fantasy, alternate history and horror. The only superhero story I found was “Out With a Bang,” which featured age 60+ superheroes in a retirement home. This publisher seems to target the alternative comic reader rather than your superhero variety.
The artwork of the various books I read are well-suited to their respective genres. Some of the books feel a bit amateur, but they come off as plucky and charming rather than lazy and trite. I only found one title unreadable but that was a matter of preference and not quality.
The app is easy to navigate and anyone who uses a smartphone will find it intuitive. The splash ads for the titles are beautiful, suitably serving as eye-candy and effectively communicating the content of the works themselves.
What Needs Some Work
While the scroll-down-to-read works well functionally, it lends itself very easily to speed-reading. Half of the point of comics is artwork but I scrolled through some of those stories so quickly that I barely noticed the panels themselves, which is a pity.
The Future of Comic Books
Do apps like Stela represent the future of comic books? With retail stores struggling to keep their footing in physical products in a world with an increasing demand for digital goods, apps from companies like Stela represent a big opportunity for independent publishers to not only make their titles available digitally, but to manage their own platform and develop a closer, more personal relationship with their target market and (hopefully) keep the medium of comics alive for generations to come.
If you like reading fresh, original comics, get Stela! You can read the first chapter of every book in their catalog free. And if you like what you’re reading, consider supporting independent comics by subscribing for $4.99 per month.
Get Stela here!