Not everyone wants to read through Marvel comics in exactly the same way.  To accommodate this, the order is set up to be read in different ways.

The Main Order: This is the full reading order showing the comics in the way the site originally intended them to be. Each books should build off the previous in a way that makes sense.

Character Reading Order: This is for people interested in just one character. You will see all comics where your selected character makes an appearance.

Group Reading Order: This list is for people interested in a following a specific group. You will see only the comics where this group or members of this group (2 or more members of the group must make an appearance for it to be considered a partial appearance) make an appearance.

Comic Box Reading Order: The Comic Box is a way for you to build a custom list of your own. You select up to 20 characters and up to 20 groups that you are interested in. The list will then show you all comics that feature at least one character or group you selected.

Essential Reading Order: It is not necessary to read every single issue Marvel has produced in order to get a full understanding of the Marvel universe. The essential reading order shows you just those issues that are deemed essential in understanding what has happened in Marvel. This includes first appearances of notable groups and characters, origin stories, major turning points and story arcs.

One of the big features for the Complete Marvel Reading Order is to be able to track what books you have read, what books you need to read, and what book you should read next. As you are reading through Marvel comics, go to the details page of each comic you have read and check it off as read. The system will know that you have read that issue and show you what issue you should read next, based on the preferred order you have selected in your account settings.

You can find the next issue for you to read both in the Your Statistics part of the site as well as on the right hand sidebar. If you click on the cover of the next issue for you to read, it will take you to that issues detail page.

If you are looking for a specific character, click on the characters menu from the sliding menu at the top or go to the Order page on the site. You will see a row of letters (if you are on the Order page, it will be labeled Character Order). Each letter is a link that will take you to the characters page featuring all characters whose name starts with that letter.

These pages are separated into two parts Major and Minor characters. Major characters are those who appear in 100 issues that are currently in the order. Some characters that are clearly major may be listed in the minor section. As more issues go into the order, these characters will move into being labeled Major.

Click on the characters portrait and you will be taken to that characters page. Here you will be able to see all issues where that character appears in.