~/Downloads$ plasmapkg -t comic -i 92042-dilbert.comic
plasmapkg(12384)/kdecore (KSycoca) KSycocaPrivate::openDatabase: Trying to open ksycoca from "/var/tmp/kdecache-ryanvade/ksycoca4"
plasmapkg(12384) main: we have: "plasma/comics/" ("Plasma/Comic")
plasmapkg(12384)/kdecore (kdelibs) KTempDir::create: KTempDir: Temporary directory created : "/tmp/kde-ryanvade/plasmapkgzguLA2/"
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 1
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 2
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 3
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 4
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 5
plasmapkg(12384)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: ************************** 7
Successfully installed /home/ryanvade/Downloads/92042-dilbert.comic
ryanvade@ryan-linux-laptop:~/Downloads$



well, that works. Will have to install all my comics this way. AHH.

spoke too soon...
~/Downloads$ plasmapkg -t comic -i 152882-WoI.comic
plasmapkg(21629)/kdecore (KSycoca) KSycocaPrivate::openDatabase: Trying to open ksycoca from "/var/tmp/kdecache-ryanvade/ksycoca4"
plasmapkg(21629) main: we have: "plasma/comics/" ("Plasma/Comic")
plasmapkg(21629)/kdecore (kdelibs) KTempDir::create: KTempDir: Temporary directory created : "/tmp/kde-ryanvade/plasmapkgpamM5q/"
plasmapkg(21629)/libplasma Plasma::Package::installPackage: Could not open package file, unsupported archive format: "/home/ryanvade/Downloads/152882-WoI.comic" "text/plain"
Installation of /home/ryanvade/Downloads/152882-WoI.comic failed.

I NEED my wizard of Id.

The file was identified as "text/plain" this time - so chances are it is not actually a valid *.comic file, but more likely a download page of some description - especially if you downloaded it from kde-apps.org. Can you try examining it with a text editor?

redownload fixed it. All is good, I guess. Just wish this worked like it is supposed to.

Indeed - it is rather unusual it did not work correctly. Where the actual issue is located however will be rather difficult to ascertain unfortunately. It could be in KNS or within part of Plasma itself.

Modifying comic.knsrc with

sudo sed -i 's/-i/-u/g' /usr/share/kde4/config/comic.knsrc

changes the InstallationCommand to use the plasmapkg install option (-i) for the comic package instead of the upgrade option (-u). This will make installing the comic packages work again, but they will not be upgradable. So first you'll have to remove the package, then install it again when a new version of the comic package appears.
Reported also in BUG #325028 https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=325028#c11.
Needs someone who has write access to modify and push to KDE git to make the change, or maybe a review of the upgrade method in plasmapkg to not refuse upgrading if the package is not installed.

Hi there, I've submitted a patch to fix this problem it's in the reviewboard. https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/117175. Needs more reviews and I hope to get it submitted. This would fix installing the .comic packages with upgrade. Also another patch I've submitted will fix installing and removing comics like nerdson (who have the whole contents packed in a folder in the archive).

thanks, but it would be nice to have it working properly, I am using kde4.13 and struggling with this issue too for the past half year and have done a clean install of KDE more times than I care to mention and it does not fix this issue either

I'm afraid until someone submits a fix to the Comic applet code we'll need to continue using workarounds.