Read Marvel Comics Online
Originally known as Timely Comics and later as Atlas Comics, Marvel Comics took the name of Timely's first title in 1939 in 1961 as its current name with the publication of Fantastic Four #1. Marvel followed with a spate of distinctly characterized superheroes such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Doctor Strange, and teams such as the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Defenders. These characters proved popular with its fans, whom editor and publisher Stan Lee dubbed "true believers," who were encouraged to "make mine Marvel." Now, thanks to the Internet, you and other "true believers" can make yours digital by reading e-comics of your favorite Marvel titles online. Here's how to do it.
Contents
[hide]Steps
Choosing a Comic
- Visit the digital comics page of Marvel's website. The address is http://marvel.com/digital_comics. You can also go to the Marvel website homepage and click "Digital Comics" in the options under "Marvel" in the lower-left corner of the homepage.
- Select the Marvel comic you want to read. You can do this in 1 of several ways:
- Click the "Browse Digital Comics" tab to browse by Marvel character. You can select from a pictorial display of characters, an alphabetical list subdivided by initial letter, or type the character name into a search field.
- Choose one of the Marvel comics listed under "Recommended Digital Comics." Click "Read Online" under the cover graphic of the digital comic you want to read. If you don't see a title you like, click either the left or right arrow to scroll through the display until you see a title that interests you.
- Choose one of the options under "Classic Digital Comics Must-Reads." Click on an option name or "Read More" under the short description for a more complete description and list of available titles. Click on the title or cover graphic to read the comic.
- Choose one of the options under "Most Read Digital Comics." Click on the title of the comic you want to read.
- Choose one of the options under "Digital Comics Released This Week." This section functions the same way as the "Recommended Digital Comics" section.
Using Marvel's Online Reader
- Click the left and right arrows at bottom center to move through the pages. Click the right arrow to move to the next page; click the left arrow to move to the previous page. The page number will update to show which page out of the total number of digital pages is being displayed.
- Clicking the word "Pages" will show a thumbnail display of all the pages in the comic. Click the thumbnail of a page to display the corresponding page on screen, or click "Close" to close the display.
- Use the Zoom control at lower left to bring the panels closer or further away. Click the minus (-) button at the left of the slider to reduce the panels to their smallest size (letting you see 2 pages at once) and the plus (+) button to increase the panels to their largest size (letting you see half the current page). Click anywhere on the ruler between the buttons to move the slider to that position and adjust the display accordingly.
- Click "Magnify Text" to enable a digital magnifying glass. A square magnifier appears on screen, letting you enlarge part of the text or picture. You can move this magnifier anywhere on screen with your mouse; to turn off the magnifier, click "Magnify Text" again.
- Click "Full Screen" to display the page on your entire computer screen. To turn this feature off, press the "Esc" key on your keyboard.
- Click "Book Info" to toggle to an information page. The top of the information page displays the comic title, publication date, writer and artist credits, and provides an opportunity for you to rate the issue. The bottom half of the information page displays 3 tabs.
- The leftmost tab displays the number of digital Marvel comics available under that title. You can select another digital comic to read by clicking the cover graphic or click either the left or right arrow to see cover graphics for the other titles.
- The center tab displays the number of available e-comics related to the current comic. Click the tab to display cover graphics for these comics; you can select one of them in the same manner as for the other issues available in the original title.
- The rightmost tab displays the cover graphic and write-up for a printed volume that includes the story in the digital comic you're reading. Click "More Info" to display the webpage on Marvel's website with a complete write-up of that volume. Below the write-up is displayed the phone number for Marvel's directory of comics shops as well as the option to search for comics shops in or near your ZIP Code.
- To exit from the information page, click "Book Info" again.
- Govern how the reader displays the comic with the Preferences menu. Clicking "Preferences" displays a dropdown menu with 3 sections: Display Modes, Panel Transitions, and Page Menu Options.
- Display mode options include Smart Panels, which displays the comic panel-by-panel; Single Page, which lets you view an entire page at once; and Two Page, which lets you view 2 pages at once.
- Panel transition options include Normal, which provides no automatic transition between pages; and Smooth, which automatically transitions between pages.
- Page menu options include Show Unread, which shows the thumbnail images for all available pages in the e-comic; and Mask Unread, which shows only the thumbnail images of pages you have read.
- Click "Share" to share the comic online. A popup window appears, displaying a list of Internet sites to which you can share the URL of the digital comic. Select one of the sites from the list, or enter a site in the search field at the top. Click "Close" to close the popup.
- Click the Help button to display a tabbed help page. The help page has 3 tabs which summarize the basic controls, keyboard and mouse controls, and means to customize the e-reader display.
Tips
- If you have Google Chrome, you can go to chrome web store and download marvel comics.
- Marvel offers a Digital Comics Unlimited subscription service; subscriptions are available on a month-by-month or an annual basis. Subscribers can build digital comics collections, accessible through the "My Collection" option, track and rate the digital comics they've read, and create their own lists of "must reads."
Warnings
- Certain Marvel e-comics, such as the digitized versions of classic issues, will let you read only the first few pages of that issue. To read all the pages, you must subscribe to Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited and be signed in.
Things You'll Need
- Computer with Adobe Flash installed
- Internet connection
- Visa or MasterCard (to subscribe to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited)
