Apparitions - Startling
By Michael Franzoni
What You Should Know: Following the death of her brother, Andie Cicero discovered that she had the ability to converse with the recently passed -- those who had yet to cross through The Veil. Now, she finds herself swept up in a high-stakes game of domination between the Ten (a group destined to stop the coming evil) and the forces from beyond the Veil, who are intent upon crashing down the walls between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
What's Gonna Happen: Following the forced removal of her unborn child by dark forces, Andie hangs by a thread. She's found herself unable to trust anyone -- including those who had previously saved her life. IF they can manage to close the gate, the Ten still find themselves in a position where they can no longer turn back, and that may include bringing the fight its source!
Down the Road: Allegiances come and allegiances go. A sacrifice is needed, and Cyrus Greer has shown himself more than willing to administer that sacrifice before. However, will the past come back to haunt him? And who will be left standing after the Ten find themselves embroiled in a spiritual battle of a lifetime?
Defenders - Startling
By Chris Munn and Mike McGee
What You Should Know: Satana has gathered the Defenders -- Hannibal King, Howard the Duck, Colleen Wing, Dirtnap and Namorita (and Nita's roommate, Trisha) -- to do...something. She makes out like it's to protect the world or whatever, but come on: The woman has horns growing out of her head. In their brief career, the Defenders have battled ancient necromancers, zombies, Foolkiller, Madcap, and even hung out with Twisted Sister's Dee Snider! Now they face occult assassins DOA, and the repercussions will be -- well, actually, kinda like this:
What's Gonna Happen: Seeds sown in the earliest issues of the series come to fruition as we begin to learn the real reason the Defenders have been called together. Surprising character revelations and seductions are right around the corner...
Down the Road: About the scariest Marvel horror villain imaginable has his eye on one of the team...and it's the last Defender you'd expect. Plus! Road trips, dinosaur action, terrifying infernal dimensions, more obscure heroes and villains than ever before, hot lesbian sex, *and* an even cooler musical guest than Dee! Now do you see why Defenders won best series in the Heroes Awards?!
Man-Thing - Startling
By Josh Reynolds
What You Should Know: A host of eclectic characters have congregated in Citrusville orbiting around the Man-Thing and a young woman named Angel. Among these individuals are the super-villains Blizzard, Plantman and Shatterfist, the dimensional castaway Howard the Duck and the alien exile Tana Nile. Thrown together by fate this not-so-magnificent seven have faced off with the rogue dimension (!) calling itself Master Pandemonium, a pain-crazed Man-Thing, the lizard, a club full of vampires and the sinister and as yet unexplained threat of the Shonokins...
What's Gonna Happen: Well, for starters, look forward to a very nasty and character altering battle with the undead threat of the Scavenger. Who will live? Who will die? Who will get portions of their anatomy eaten like tiny grapes? Also, more will be explained about the nature of Angel's connection to the Man-Thing as well as her link to the Nexus of Realities. And why exactly the Shonokins are interested in the various goings-on in Citrusville. Lastly, we will get to see, in the following order, Howard shoot someone in a sensitive area, Shatterfist punch someone in the brain, and Plantman, Morbius and the Lizard act out an episode of ER! Woo!
Down the Road: Giant-Size Man-Thing numba one! Send in those stories now kiddies! What secret are the bible thumpers of Tupelo hiding? How long will Bray put up with Dakhim in his brain? Perhaps at last the truth will be revealed as to how there can be two Howard the ducks in the Startling Universe...what will happen if these two pugnacious fowl should ever cross paths? Not to mention their respective posses (oooh the possibilities *nudge-nudge wink-wink*)
Spider-Man
By Jason Kenney
What You Should Know: Peter Parker movee to DC in the hopes of escaping the memories of New York City and the life he lived there, but the costume still haunts him. Richard Fisk presented Peter with the story of a lifetime that caused more grief for Peter and his alter-ego. But Fisk's plans to toppel his father, The Kingpin, fall apart almost as quickly as Peter's life seems to, but Mary Jane is there to catch him and things end up to not be as bad as it seemed. The Kingpin, wanting to wash his hands of DC, hands the reigns of power over to Lonnie Lincoln, Tombstone.
What's Gonna Happen: #6 marks the beginning of a new arc as a serial killer is on the loose in DC and the police suspect Spider-Man's involvement. A hot shot reporter is sent down from NYC to make Peter's life a living hell day and night. Spider-Man suspects Lincoln's involvement in the slayings and confronts the newly appointed mob boss.
Down the Road: The second arc is looking to be six to seven issues long with issues #6-11 done and being edited. The murderer is revealed and that does not bode well for Peter. The next arc will see a long standing plot thread from the real book come to a close with lasting effects. Then again, don't they all have 'lasting effects'?
Ultimate X-Men
By Ryan Krupienski
What You Should Know: Gathered together by husband and wife Charles Xavier, expert geneticist, and Emma Frost, ruthless businesswoman, the X-Men serve to deal with the unruly members of the mutant race. Storm, Colossus, Vertigo (Jubilee), and Cannonball were picked up at various points across the USA by Cyclops and Marvel Girl, Xavier's first students. In the team's first official battle, against mistress of magnetism Zaladane and her Mutant Liberation Front, Marvel Girl and Cannonball were slain, and the United Nations Plaza in New York was destroyed as the villains had planned. Also during the terrible battle, a mysterious young man calling himself Nightcrawler emerged and has ended up joining the team. The team's 'downtime' is just as hectic as Colossus and Jubilee have engaged in a scandolous affair, with Cyclops' aching heart watching from the sidelines. Meanwhile, a shady organization seeming to be Neo-Nazi's have captured a young mutant with wings in Europe, Iceman has met a girl who's just as crazy about him as he is about her, and a dangerous mutant from Storm's past is running rampant on a killing spree in Chicago.
What's Gonna Happen: The long-delayed Ultimate X-Men #8 closes out the two-part 'storyarc' started in #7, and will see the face-off between Cyclops & Storm and Feral. The MLF will be making a brief appearance, and Xavier will be appointing a new leader for the team. Then we'll skip ahead in time just a smidge for the next 'storyarc' in #9-10 which will take the team on a trip to Tokyo, Japan where they'll meet their older counterparts, known as the X-Corporation. Iceman will take the spotlight as the team battles the Juggernaut as you've never seen him before. Also, John Proudstar will start to question what Charles and Emma are hiding in a closed-off sub-basement level of the mansion. In issue #11 the team will bare their souls for an introspective look at each member of the cast; many secrets will be revealed, and any preconceived notions of the characters based on their core universe alter-egos will be shattered. Issue #12 will serve as the prologue to a four-part storyline, as more about Nightcrawler in revealed, Cyclops gets closer to his crush, and unexpected guest arrives at the mansion. Then in issues #13-16 the X-Men face off against the Neo-Nazi human/mutant cult called the Acolytes; the mansion is raided, the team is captured, and a couple of them won't be coming home when all is said and done.
Down The Road: The first annual will serve as an epilogue to the Acolytes storyline. Charles Xavier's dark secret is revealed, and it's disturbing enough to almost destroy the team's faith and trust in him. A new member joins the team as a few others are missing, a new threat is unveiled, and the X-Men are forced out of the country as anti-mutant sentiment reaches an all-time high. Starting with #17 the series is going in very, very different directions, and a huge plotline kicks off, one that will lead all the way up to several explosive revelations in issue #50. Expect to see many familiar faces with extreme Ultimate makeovers, including Northstar, Sinister, and Blink.
Winding Way - Startling
By Michael Franzoni
What You Should Know: The Marquis is an aged magician, one of the highest ranking on the Winding Way. Powered with an insight into his many lives across the multiverse, he has enjoyed the best knowledges that those lives could afford, and he has always used those to the right of the greater good. Now, a sin from his past life is making its way across the multiverse, slaughtering his counterparts and making their way to the Nexus counterpart. Can the Marquis and his assembled members of the Winding Way stop this menace before it collapses reality in upon itself?
What's Gonna Happen: Ji Nai, the Marquis' young apprentice and a powerful elementalist, has made the grave mistake of weaving the timestreams too closely together, further complicating their problem. Now, the hunter known as Kipling has brought her demonic children to the Marquis' castle to enter into final battle.
Down The Road: Amanda Sefton and Nightcrawler were called to Margali's side, and they will soon find out that an ancient, unleashed evil is making its bid for control of Limbo. With the Soul Sword wrested from her and civil war looming on the horizon, the woman known as Magick may find that she's bitten off more than she can chew...