Just how many Avengers books are there going to be?

Marvel has announced that in May, after the conclusion of the events of Siege, a new age at Marvel is going to begin... The Heroic Age! (cue a trumpet)

Allegedly all the grimness that has been going on over the last 7 years, like Avengers:Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign - events that generally showcased conflicts and disagreements among the major superheroes of the Marvel universe, will all be in the past as a new age is ushered in that shows the heroes at the top of the food chain again. Awesome! All I can say is that I sure hope this starts off with a Heroic Age one-shot that shows the whole Avengers roster having a big picnic together.

This announcement was accompanied with the news that all of the current Avengers titles would be canceled (New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and Avengers: Initiative) with a new Avengers title debuting in May that would be titled, well, just Avengers. It's going to have a brand new #1 issue, be written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by the dependable John Romita Jr., and (from the looks of it) be a bit more of a classic-feeling Avengers title. The current Avengers era is going to get it's own personal goodbye in a one-shot issue entitled New Avengers Finale, and is said to wrap up a lot of the plotlines that have been developing since the title began.

Okay! One Avengers title instead of four!

Then, shortly afterward it was announced that there was going to be another title: Secret Avengers. It's going to be written by Ed Brubaker and just about anything about the roster or the concept behind it is all hush-hush (a secret, get it?). Judging by Brubaker's history with the crime and spy genres, however, it does seem reasonable to suspect that the book is going to have an espionage flavor. And just for the record, I'm willing to bet money that Steve Rogers is going to be on the team.

Nobody was surprised that a second Avengers title was announced, as it's now one of Marvel's biggest selling franchises. But then just today, news were announced at CBR that there's going to be another title, and it's going to be entitled.... New Avengers?


So, how is this different from Avengers? Or Secret Avengers? What does this have to do with the New Avengers title that is ending in May? And for that matter, just how exactly does Bendis have time to write all these books anyway?