Every fan knows that the Marvel Universe is an enormous collection of characters, stories and concepts, and that it's constantly expanding. Keeping track of the monumental number of characters, places and things in the Marvel Universe, however, is more than any one person can do. Luckily, Marvel.com is here to help with its new and improved Marvel Universe section, the official character database of Marvel Comics. By tapping into Marvel's greatest resources--its fans, comic creators and staff--the Marvel Universe section provides both up-to-the-minute info and detailed back stories for thousands of people, places and things in the Marvel Universe. Whether you're a die-hard comic fan or a casual reader doing some in-depth research, this all-encompassing, one-stop site for all that is Marvel is guaranteed to astound.

There are a number of new items which are now part of the system. Firstly, there is the new power grid rating systems, where every character's abilities are put on a sliding scale from 1-7. Each member of the Marvel Universe is judged on intelligence, strength, speed, durability, energy projection and fighting skills. Don't agree with the official ratings? Is Venom not intelligent enough for your liking? Is Aunt May's strength rating out of whack? That's fine! Go ahead and participate with the "fan votes," where Marvel aficionados put in their two cents and come up with a composite rating based on their votes as well as those of their peers. All you've got to do to get started is register with Marvel.com

And it doesn't end with the ratings. Think you've found something in the bios that doesn't seem right? That's what this fan-fed, community Wiki is for! Use your Marvel.com log-in and edit these bios to your heart's content (pending mod approval, of course). You'll be listed with the rest of the contributors and the more you edit the site, the more well-known you will be to Marvel.com, your peers and world at large.

The feature that's almost guaranteed to keep you busy for hours on end is the Marvel Universe Connections, a 3-D visualization of the Marvel Universe directly fueled by Marvel's very own Wiki. Users will be able to view a character on a 3-D map, in which each hero or villain that character has ever associated with will be connected to their picture via a series of branches. Web surfers will be able to navigate this complex yet user-friendly system (rotating and expanding the hub) using only their mouse and thirst for knowledge.

So, welcome aboard the brand new Marvel Universe, an interactive, entertaining encyclopedia, complete with brand new tools. Any character, event or place from the pages of Marvel comics is now right at your fingertips. What are you still doing reading this? Get over to the new Marvel Universe character database and check it out!