Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely not. You can read as much or as little as you want. If you are only interested in Batman or the X-Men feel free to only read their comics and ignore everything else. If you are going through a larger order, like the Ultimate Marvel order, feel free to skip series you have no interest in. If you are reading an event with a lot of tie-in issues don’t feel like you have to read them all. In fact several events have poor tie-ins and only reading the main series is recommended. Generally reading only the main series of an event will be enough to understand everything important going on.
Event Reading Orders contain all issues, including tie-ins, for the event. Sometimes Event Reading Orders will also contain prologue or epilogue issues that, while not officially part of the event, will help provide a more complete reading experience.
Character Reading Orders, rather then containing every single issue or appearance for a character, only contain what are considered essential issues. These are issues that are important for character development plus issues that are highly entertaining and well-written.
Master Reading Orders are basically giant orders with all the Event and Character reading orders from a particular universe combined. For example the Marvel Master Reading Order contains all the Character Reading Orders for Marvel characters shuffled together in chronological order, all of the Event Reading Orders from Marvel in their proper places, and suggestions on when to read the various Marvel alternate universes. Not only that but it also contains hundreds of issues not listed in any other reading order. These extra issues include important or entertaining limited series as well as comics that bridge the gap between events in the event-heavy modern Marvel comics (basically from Avengers Disassembled to present).
All comics in the reading orders are listed by individual issue. Sorry trade paperback readers. All #1 issues will have the year it was published next to it. All comics, other than the first Volume, will also have their Volume listed.
All Volume numbers listed in the reading orders are the same as the Volume numbers listed at either Marvel Wikia or DC Wikia. So if you are unsure of exactly what Black Panther Vol. 4 is you can look it up on the Marvel Wikia and see that it started in 2005 and consisted of 41 issues.
A Reading Order is a list of comics that comprise a certain event or character that is listed in a certain order, usually chronologically. The reading orders on this site aren’t listed in strict chronological order but rather the order in which they are most enjoyable to read. For example if Mutant Man #17 takes place chronologically before Atomic Smash #4 but it spoils the huge reveal in Atomic Smash #4 it will be listed after.
A Reading List is a list of comics about a character/franchise/etc. that are worth reading. Technically the Character Reading Orders on this site are better described as reading lists since they leave out poorly received issues. The Other section of the site contains several Reading Lists, for example the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reading List or the Garth Ennis Reading List.
Extensive research has gone into each reading order on this site but mistakes will slip through. The majority of the reading orders (the first ~340) were written over a period of roughly 10 months, often with several being written one after the other. If you do find a mistake or a better placement for an issue please Contact us and we will make the correction as soon as possible.
If you see what you think is a mistake with one of the reading orders on the site, either it is missing (or including extra) issues or you feel it isn’t in the right order feel free to Contact us.