Comics are awesome. If you disagree, you’re wrong, and I will give you a moment to find the door. But maybe you don’t exactly disagree, yet you’ve also never read any comics. Maybe—like me—you didn’t grow up with them. Maybe you wanted to, but you couldn’t afford them. That’s probably a lot of you: “I’d love to read some [more] comics, but I don’t have a lot of money to spend on a new hobby.” What if I told you that you may be able to read tons of recent comics for the cost of a library card?
Enter the Hoopla
The word “hoopla” is usually indicative of excessive enthusiasm and unwarranted hype. But in the case of Hoopla Digital, a content provider that works in conjunction with your local library system, the enthusiasm is just right, and the hype is well-warranted. If you want to get into comics (or music and movies—more on that in a bit), there simply isn’t a better way to give it a shot than Hoopla. With all of the most recent Rebirth trades, plus scads of older trades and collections from other publishers, you won’t run out of reading material any time soon.
So how does it work? Hoopla teams up with your library, who pays licensing fees for content consumed, and you get access to a staggering selection of content without paying a dime. Your library can set a borrowing limit each month, as well as filter content out, but the great majority of customers should be able to experience Hoopla in all of its glory.
Here in the great state of Delaware, we don’t yet have Hoopla. Our libraries are connected to an inferior rival, one with far less content and clunkier interfaces. Thankfully, Hoopla was kind enough to supply Batman News with a press account, so we can tell you all about it.
How you read is as important as what you read
There’s a reason ComiXology rose to prominence in the digital comics space: getting comics right on phones and iPads is hard. I’ve read in a variety of formats and apps, and most provide an awful experience. Whether it’s inferior guided reading or the lack of automating sizing when rotating, these other solutions seldom measure up to ComiXology’s industry-leading flow. I can confidently say that Hoopla is—at worst—a close second. The iPhone and iPad apps provide an outstanding reading experience, so whether you’re using guided view on your phone, or sliding a page at a time on your tablet, you can focus on the comics and not get hung up on a buggy, fiddly interface. I used Hoopla extensively while reading and reviewing Archie, Vol. 2, and it was seamless.
But wait—there’s more!
And if that’s not enough, Hoopla also provides access to music, movies, and shows. Need a break from your Rebirth binge? Listen to some tunes or watch something. And just like their comics reader, Hoopla’s audio and visual content interfaces are intuitive and responsive. My only ding against them is that the iPhone app does not (at time of writing) allow you to listen to music while reading a book. Hopefully they’ll get around to fixing that soon.
You really need to try this
If DC’s Rebirth has you wanting to jump in (or back in) to comics, now you have a no-risk way to do it with Hoopla. It’s a no-brainer. Find out more at hoopladigital.com or check with your local library.
