It all started with a vibe-coded PyQt6 app that refused to build or to run under Windows, but it worked satisfactorily under Linux. It navigated in the archives of 15 comic strips on GoComics.com. It reached version 1.1.1, then 1.1.3, when it got extended to 20 comic strips. Then I abandoned it.

The reason is that I created a web-based version that can be served locally via Python, or can be uploaded to a PHP-enabled server (whoever has a WordPress blog on shared hosting that allows uploading of PHP and JS can use it).

The logical extension was a second web app that supported 20 strips from ComicsKingdom.com.

But then, one day, GoComics went bad: requests coming from IPs belonging to data centers became blacklisted, and a JS-based challenge started being served instead of the requested HTML page. If GoComics was accessed via a browser, the challenge could be solved, but any automated retrieval failed, and my web app hosted on shared hosting stopped working. Some VPN servers are also on the blacklist, but in the case of Proton VPN, only specific servers or countries are deemed suspicious.

Incidentally, this change broke the comic strips retrieved by Inbox Comics from GoComics, with the strange exception of Garfield.

And then, I decided to try using Qwen Code to fix the non-functioning PyInstaller build for Windows. Using GitHub Actions, of course, but this time I expected the resulting EXE to work. And it worked!

In the process, I made ComicStripBrowser retrieve from both GoComics and ComicsKingdom. The selection is limited to 40 titles, and the choice was made based on my taste.

Running this app from a residential IP shouldn’t be impeded by GoComics’s Bunny Shield challenge, unless your VPN is connected to a server hated by GoComics.

After many bug fixes, a lot of bugs are still present, but the app works quite well. After the release of version 2.0.0, two tiny updates led to 2.0.2, a version that should look the same on both light and dark themes.

Fractional scaling is now better supported, but 100% desktop scaling (or 200% for 4K screens) is still the best choice.

To quote from GitHub (updated to reflect version 2.5.0):

April 2026 saw a major overhauling of the app, culminating with the release of version 2.0.0.

Good to know

  • In addition to the calendar navigation, keyboard navigation is also possible for the currently selected comic title. Left/Right arrows: Previous/Next, Home/End: First/Today.
  • Disk caching stores the last 200 comics per strip for fast loading or later consulting from the cache folder. The cached comics can be displayed by the app even without an internet connection.
  • If you cannot see a comic hosted by GoComics, disconnect from your VPN or connect to a different server or country!
  • Building from source is possible, but the automated builds by GitHub are better. For instance, my local builds made under Debian 13 resulted in OpenGL dependencies. GitHub’s builds made under Ubuntu 24.04 don’t have such dependencies.
  • Post-1.1.3 versions benefited from the help of Qwen Code. A few tidbits have been inspired by suggestions made by Grok and Gemini. Since Qwen Code won’t visibly search the internet for ideas, I occasionally asked Grok and Gemini in a browser for possible fixes (Qt6 is a mess, and Python doesn’t help). They were all very keen to repeatedly break Qt6 layouts with their code, but I only took the good part from their vomit. Qwen Code’s OAuth free tier (1,000 free requests/day) is extremely generous and can be fun to work with, as long as you keep the context below 20% full to avoid getting it confused and dumber (use /compress and, when it doesn’t help, generate a /summary and start /new). It was Kimi who suggested I should use Qwen Code! Too bad that /export only saves the prompts and the answers per se, because Qwen Code’s thinking can be fascinating, and the output of its attempts and explorations can also be quite instructive, yet they cannot be exported. Either way, paying to use Claude Code or Amazon Kiro is absurd when Qwen Code offers so much for free! (Of course, it will collect all your code and send it to Xi Jinping.)

The list of supported comic strips

  1. Adam@Home @ GoComics
  2. Andy Capp @ GoComics
  3. Animal Crackers @ GoComics
  4. Animal Crackers @ CK
  5. The Argyle Sweater @ GoComics
  6. Aunty Acid @ GoComics
  7. Baby Blues @ GoComics
  8. Baldo @ GoComics
  9. B.C. @ GoComics
  10. Back to B.C. @ GoComics
  11. Beetle Bailey @ CK
  12. Bizarro @ CK
  13. Bliss @ GoComics
  14. Blondie @ CK
  15. The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee @ CK
  16. Broom Hilda @ GoComics
  17. Calvin and Hobbes @ GoComics
  18. Carpe Diem @ CK
  19. Crock @ CK
  20. Close to Home @ GoComics
  21. Day by Dave @ GoComics
  22. Dennis The Menace @ CK
  23. Doonesbury @ GoComics
  24. The Duplex @ GoComics
  25. Dustin @ CK
  26. The Family Circus @ CK
  27. The Flying McCoys @ GoComics
  28. Foxtrot @ GoComics
  29. Foxtrot Classics @ GoComics
  30. Frazz @ GoComics
  31. Free Range @ GoComics
  32. The Fusco Brothers @ GoComics
  33. Garfield @ GoComics
  34. Ginger Meggs @ GoComics
  35. Glasbergen Cartoons @ GoComics
  36. Hagar The Horrible @ CK
  37. Hi and Lois @ CK
  38. Lola @ GoComics
  39. Marmaduke @ GoComics
  40. Marvin @ CK
  41. Moderately Confused @ GoComics
  42. Mother Goose and Grimm @ GoComics
  43. Mutts @ CK
  44. Non Sequitur @ GoComics
  45. Off the Mark @ GoComics
  46. The Other Coast @ GoComics
  47. Pardon My Planet @ CK
  48. Peanuts @ GoComics
  49. Peanuts Begins @ GoComics
  50. Pearls Before Swine @ GoComics
  51. Pickles @ GoComics
  52. Pluggers @ GoComics
  53. Pluggers @ CK
  54. Reality Check @ GoComics
  55. Rhymes with Orange @ CK
  56. Shoe @ GoComics
  57. Shoe @ CK
  58. Speed Bump @ GoComics
  59. Wizard of Id @ GoComics
  60. WuMo @ GoComics
  61. Ziggy @ GoComics
  62. Zits @ CK

Note that some comic titles, especially in their early days, can have large gaps in availability.

Releases

📦 Pre-built binaries are available on Releases:

PlatformArtifact
Linux binarycomic-strip-browser
Linux .debcomic-strip-browser_*_amd64.deb (Debian/Ubuntu)
Linux .rpmcomic-strip-browser-*.x86_64.rpm (Fedora/RHEL)
Linux AppImageComicStripBrowser-*.AppImage
WindowsComicStripBrowser.exe

Cached images

The last-accessed 200 images for each comic title are stored in a folder called cache, which is too generic a name. Each comic title has its own subfolder, though.

The folder cache is saved as follows:

  • In the current directory whenever possible, which happens if you launch the binary or the AppImage from a folder somewhere in your home.
  • In $HOME when this is not possible, especially when installed globally from .deb or .rpm and launched from the menu.
  • Beware that if you launch the app via a launcher triggered by Alt+F2, the current directory is ~/Desktop in MATE and $HOME in other desktop environments.

Proofs that this app runs under Windows 11 with 125% scaling: