The release of ComicStripBrowser 3 left a few situations uncovered, and GoComics’ increasingly strict limitations likely frustrated some users who didn’t know why the app started showing them errors on GoComics comic titles. It also had a few bugs and things to clean up. Hopefully, version 3.1 improves the user experience to some extent.

What’s new in versions 3.1.0 and 3.1.1

The changelog for v3.1.0 is succinct:

  • Fixed Dick Tracy from ComicsKingdom, which displayed comics from GoComics.
  • New titles added from GoComics: Get Fuzzy, Herman.
  • GoComics: handling of the “429 Too Many Requests” response.
  • GoComics: handling of VPN blocking.
  • “Hide GoComics” option added (temporary, not saved).
  • Functional update: Up/Down arrow keys now directly navigate comic titles, mirroring the PgUp/PgDn keys.
  • AppImage changes: added comic-strip-browser.appdata.xml; rebased on Ubuntu 22.04 for a broader compatibility.
  • Minor code cleanup and consistency fixes.

A minor oversight was fixed in v.3.1.1:

  • The Up/Down shortcuts are now mentioned in the UI alongside the others.

Most people would stop reading here and go grab ComicStripBrowser.exe, the deb, the rpm, or the AppImage. Curious people should read on.

More details can be found on the project’s GitHub page, which displays the README. The relevant changes are shown below.

ℹ️ Since 3.1.1 is a minor update, the documentation and screenshots still reflect 3.1.0.

What you might want to know

Version 3.1.0 added proper feedback for situations where GoComics blocks your IP because “you’ve asked for too many comics in a short period of time,” and when GoComics returns a Bunny Shield challenge that can only be bypassed in a web browser. It also adds a “Hide GoComics” toggle for such situations.

A normal view under Debian 13 XFCE:

With GoComics titles hidden:

In Windows, with 125% scaling:

When GoComics hits you with a Bunny Shield challenge, the app will show this feedback to the user:

GoComics also limited the number of comic strips users could request within a given time frame. When they decide you need to “cool down” for a while, they will show you this “429 Too Many Requests” page in a web browser:

Since release 3.1.0, the app will show this feedback to the user:

The Up/Down arrow keys can now be used to navigate through the list of comic titles, mirroring the functionality of PgUp/PgDn (it was yet another oversight):

Comic Strip Browser on SourceForge was also updated with binaries for 3.1.1 and a screenshot for 3.1.1 under Windows: