I use RA Comics Direct. They're cheap and fast, and they have different options for paper if you want something a little nicer. They also offer the option of a proof so you can check everything before the whole order goes to print. They do require a 25 book minimum, but it's a good size for an order as far as print on demand goes.
I recently used Litho Ninja for printing my first book for a convention a few months ago. I was really impressed with their customer service and the quality of the print. I'm not going to say they're super cheap (they're not) but they're just about as expensive as other comic-specific printing companies out there. I got an amazing first print without any ads (which, if I remember correctly, Ka-Blam puts ads in your book if you want a reduced cost) and they were able to deliver on a REALLY tight deadline with no extra charge.
Lately I've been using GrekoPrinting.com. They've been better than Ka-Blam, who I've also used. Much more responsive customer service, good quality books, and a fast turn around, especially compared to Ka-Blam, who are very slow, especially during convention season. My 20 page books have been $2.30, full color. btw these are the same guys as someone else mentioned above as Comic Wellspring. I'm sending my graphic novel over there this week, 128pg full color for under $10.
I'm glad someone has positive reviews on Greko! I was looking at them too, and I might order a quick proof to see if I like them better... I've been using Ka-Blam recently and I haven't had the problem of being able to see through pages. Their color printing is top notch too, especially considering that they actually prefer to print RGB files and the colors actually come out with the right intensity. I haven't started selling on their associated POD site, Indyplanet, but I'm happy enough with Ka-Blam's service that I might start doing so soon. Hmmm... so many good options..
Does anyone know of a print on demand company that's cool with international shipping? I have yet to find a POD in Chile that I like :/
Greko uses a heavier, stiffer cover stock then Ka-Blam, abd the covers are much glossier. I find the Ka-Blam interior pages to be of similar stock, but the Ka-Blam colors are a bit more vibrant. From my small sample size of people who have seen the same exact book from both printers at my tables, that bright cover beats Ka-Blam.
Greko has a much faster turn around on the books (two weeks vs five or six for Ka-Blam) and I've found the Greko staff much friendlier and more helpful.
Hey, thanks for the link. Early on when my brother and I started working on our comic we looked at PoD places, Ka-blam seemed to be the best option, but we weren't really pleased with the quality, so we ended up printing 1,500 copies at Print Ninja. Comix Well Spring might be an option for the future.
Hey guys, I thought I'd revive this thread in case anyone wants my review of Greko Printing so far. I'm doing tiny, tiny runs of my comics for an indie comics expo and just got back a proof of a one-shot comic15 of mine (excuse the piss-poor photography):
I'm really pleased with the proof! This is my first rodeo so I was worried about encountering some of the POD horror stories I've heard, but Greko's been great. I sent them my files and payment on December 22nd and they had the proof copy delivered on January 2nd, so it was a pretty snappy turnaround even during the holidays. We'll see how long it takes for all of the comics to get in.
I will say that the standard gloss covers are very, very shiny. You can see a bit of that in the photo of the cover, but when in direct light it reflects a ton. It isn't something that bothers me, but I thought I'd let others know in case that is a potential issue for their own runs.
Cheers and happy printing!
I love Greko/Comic Wellspring printing. Those guys are awesome. I use them for all my comic printing. I like how on the covers the black ink is slightly raised. Gives a good texture to the cover. And how the interior pages are thick enough that it doesn't translucently show the next page through the current page.
I've only ever had the greatest experience with this company, and the prices are cheaper than most other printers.
I'm not sure if they'd be classified as POD, but we used Print Ninja21 for the Outcasts of Jupiter physical books we sent to Kickstarter backers. They do offset printing for orders above 500, I think... might be 1,000.
They've got great customer service, lots of paper options and are pretty accommodating. They were also a lot cheaper than the other offset printing options we looked at, though they do ship from China, which may not be in your budget.
We wanted to avoid digital, and were really pleased with the quality of the prints we got back. Our backers loved the look of the book too.
-- Shobo
EDIT: I see my brother, Shof already replied to this thread 
Oh well, now we've got pictures!
I use createspace for my comics. And I have to say, I have been really impressed with both the quality and their customer service. ^.^ The books have a really good weight to them, and the glossy covers are really nice.
I was wondering, does anyone have any experience printing through DriveThruComics33?
Has anyone used createspace? Their prices seem pretty good, and it should be reliable as its amazon's service.
EDIT: Just read @paigelavoie so yeah seems like createspace is good.
Do you print in color or Black and White?
I've used Createspace and had a good experience with them. The big knock on them is the interior paper, they don't really offer the traditional glossy comic interior paper as an option.
Here's some info I aggregated about a year ago...
Amazon Createspace
Color cover
b&w interior
60# page stock
24, 32, 48 pgs - $2.15 per
Color interior
24, 32, 48 pgs - $3.65 per
Lightning Source/IngramSpark
Color cover
b&w interior
24, 32 pgs - $1.09 per
48 pgs - $1.73 per
color interior
24 - $1.50 per
Ka-Blam
Color cover
b&w interior
24 pgs - $3.40 per
color interior
$4.90 per
Hi everyone, I'm new to tapastic and I'm set to post some of my series on here, I just wanted to chime in. I've used both ka-blam and createspace, I would say that quality wise ka-blam is definitely a great option, covers and interior pages are beautiful imo but they were so expensive that it wouldn't be feasible for me to use them for POD especially when I get ready to start selling my books directly from my website or at conventions, so I switched to createspace and they:
1)have better prices. I've gotten two books published through them (one 34 pager, one that is 86 pages) for about 4-5 dollars less per book than what ka-blam charged and i am pleased with the quality and how they turned out, and the cover quality was excellent. ka-blam's page quality imo is definitely better especially when it comes to color pages BUT you won't be disappointed with createspace's interiors either.
2)have pretty decent customer service, they helped me to get my book approved
3)Here's the catch...ka-blam pretty much does everything for you once your submit your .tif files, createspace has VERY strict specifications and they will reject your submission if you do not meet them. I learned a lot about book formatting while going through the process, and honestly after I got my first pdf approved it was easy getting my 2nd book approved due to knowing what is expected. It did not take long for me at all once I made a few adjustments, and I will give this one piece of advice: make sure ALL sfx, word balloons, text, etc are within their specified margins. Anything that even remotely looks like text or a "live element" has to be within the margins or they'll reject it. It can be frustrating to you if you don't want to make any adjustments to your format, I resolved any issue that I had by placing some of my pages with elements that may cause an issue on a black border so that everything fit safely within the margins.
4)Createspace makes a kindle ready pdf file for you once you are approved, i was able to use the pdf they gave me and it worked like a charm in Kindle's comic creator so now I can also offer .mobi files when I am ready to start selling the volumes of my series 
I took pics of one of my books, sorry about the crappy pic quality the camera on my phone stinks:
my series is mostly black and white screen toned color style but i do have color pages and they came out pretty decent. If you don't mind a bit of extra work and cheaper prices, createspace is pretty good but if not or if you aren't experienced with getting your book printed i'd definitely go with ka-blam, despite their cost their quality is excellent to me. Cheers everyone,
-Starlightcitypro
www.ilpersona.com2
