TIL I was reading my comics in the wrong order for years | Comic Book Fans - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

Matthew West · 2026-03-21T13:05:11.548569+00:00

I was at a friend's house last weekend and he saw me pull a random issue of 'X-Factor' from his box. He asked why I was starting with that one, and I said I just grabbed whatever looked cool. He gave me a look and said, 'You know that's the middle of a crossover, right? You're missing, like, three whole issues of setup.' I had no idea. I always just bought single issues based on the cover art and never paid attention to the little box in the corner that says 'Part 3 of 6'. For a decade, I thought comics were just naturally confusing. Now I feel pretty silly. How do you guys keep track of reading orders for big events?

taylor_wells5mo ago

My buddy spent years figuring out X-Men was a soap opera with capes.

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ward.tara6mo ago

Honestly, who has the time to follow all that stuff anyway?

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kai_ramirez386mo ago

Just pick one or two things that actually matter to you and ignore the rest. I used to try keeping up with everything and it burned me out fast. Now I only check the stuff that actually impacts my day.

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the_jessica6mo ago

I used to grab random issues too, but @kai_ramirez38 has a point about focusing on what matters. Now I just check a reading order online first.

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