By: Kris Moore

Last weekend at New York Comic Con, Marvel gave fans a preview of things to come for their multiple Avengers titles.

Storm, the mutant mistress of weather and current queen of Wakanda will be joining the team in January’s “Avengers #19” along side her husband the Black Panther.

The Secret Avengers will also add new members to the team when writer Rick Remender takes over the book in February. Now that Steve Rogers has once again taken on the mantle of Captain America, he will be leaving leadership of the Secret Avengers to Hawkeye. Promotional artwork by Gabriel Hardman for the upcoming “Secret Avengers #22” also shows three new members of the team—Captain Britain, Venom and Human Torch.

In March, the students of Avengers Academy will run into the Runaways, but not before they take in X-23 as a new member in December. Avengers Academy will be running into plenty of west coast characters when the team moves to California. The team will also run afoul of fellow west coast teen heroes, the Runaways, for a two-issue story arc in March.

The purpose of Avengers Academy is to prevent young people with superpowers from becoming supervillains—a subject that the Runaways know all too well. After finding out their parents were the crime lords group known as The Pride, the team has had a similar goal for themselves. Whether or not this leads to any of the Runaways cast jumping ship to Avengers Academy remains to be seen, but the team itself has not had a book on the shelves since 2009. This may be the right opportunity to bring the team into the Age of Heroes proper and promote some of its members to full hero status in time for the recently announced movie.

The future of the Avengers reveals a much more dynamic, diverse roster that pulls characters from all corners of the Marvel Universe. With the “Avengers” movie releasing in May and new members joining the ranks, 2012 promises to be a big year for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.