Some titles I'd like to see launched for the MAX imprint:
MI-13
The Cast: Pete Wisdom, Dane Whitman, Jon the Skrull, Joseph Chapman, and Elsa Bloodstone.
The Premise: MI-13 is a branch of British Inteligence that deals with crimes, threats, and potential threats of a supernatural, superhuman, or extra terrestrial nature. They're job is to investigate reports of such happinings, use force against them if they prove truely dangerous, and do their best to keep it out of the public eye. While superhumans are common knwoledge at this point, one of the main reasons that America seemingly has a high superhuman crime rate than other countries is because some countries, like England, do their best to cover up super human crimes when they happen. It's a sneaky PR ploy, but currently it's standard operating procedure, so what can you do? Up until recently, Pete Wisdom has been one of the few MI-13 agents, as it is a very small and low budget agency. However, recent recruitment drives have brought in Elsa Bloodstone, nigh indestructible daughter of the famed monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone, Dane Whitman, on again/off again superhero and paranormal investigator (albiet a generally skeptical one), and Joseph Chapman, latest soldier to carry the title of Union Jack and an expert when it comes to vampires. Returning from the (crappy) Wisdom mini series is Jon the Skrull, a renegade Skrull spy who was meant to take the place of singer/songwriter Jon Lennon. I thought he was an interesting character, even though the mini sucked, so I'm keeping him.
The Department, as it's agents call it, has them traveling all over Europe, investigating reports of, and sometimes fighting, monsters, demons, rogue gods, supervillains, and aliens. The plots tend to take inspiration from multiple sources, but generally things like the old sci-fi pulp fiction magazines, and Lovecraftian fantasy. MI-13 itself takes inspiration from The Initiative from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: They see the strange and unusual in the world as something to either kill, study, or otherwise bury so deep that no one will find it. Obviously, some of their agents, like Dane, have views that clash with the Department, which leads to some drama.
The First Arc: Reports come in from all over Europe of people spontaniously developing super powers that they can't control, or backfire on them in some other way. Cases of the mentally deranged super powerful sky rocket, as things like Giant Robot and Monster atacks, and Dark Lords with Orc Armies start popping up everywhere and are getting harder and harder to control. MI-13 is called in to find out what's causing it and to try and put a stop to it. But when they notice that these happenings become more and more frequent the closer you get to Norway, they soon realize that a very old and very dangerous threat is back, and they may be far out of their depth.
Lowlifes
The Cast: Adrian Toombs, Peter Petruski, Herman Schultz, Dr. Jonathan Ohn, and Aleksei Sytsevich.
The Premise: Adrian contacts four wanted super villains, all of whome had completely screwed up their lives, and brings them together with the promise of work (stealing, to be percise), security, and comradery. They live in a small apartment, and have dubbed themselves, somewhat self depricatingly, the Lowlifes. They're not out to take over the world, or get revenge on Spider-Man, or any of that. They just want to make enough money to get by.
Adrain, the leader, is sort of a mentor to the others. Of course, he's the kind of mentor who'll call the cops on you just to see if you can escape from police custody in under twelve hours. Out of the entire team, he's by far the darkest character, with the most willingness to kill people and the biggest body count under his belt.
Herman, the tech guy, just wants to survive. That's all he's ever been interested in for a very long time, really. He used to have big dreams of fame and fortune, but those dreams were dashed a long time ago. He's thought about trying to patent his technology several times, but by the time he invented it he was already an escaped convict, so walking into a patent office was never a safe bet. Now all he cares about is making enough money to afford to eat for a little while. Being the least inclined to violence, he tends to be the conscience of the group.
Peter, the demolitions and chemical guy, wants to be rich, feared, and powerful. He wants to be guy in the criminal underworld that nobody ****s with. However, his atempts to be the greatest criminal mastermind of our time haven't gone quite as well as he planned. He's been in and out of jail dozens of times and has little to show for it. He's also become something of an alchoholic, and has a bad temper. He and Herman don't get along, as Herman thinks that Peter's an *******. Herman is right.
Aleksei, the muscle, is just kind of along for the ride. He got into crime because it was all he was good at, he got into super villainy to get money for his family, and now he's a big freak in a Rhino costume he can't take off. He needs friends, basically, which is why he joined the team.
Dr. Jonathan Ohn, the team's transportation, is crazy. After getting turned into an albino skinned time/space anomoly, getting beat up by Spider-Man, getting shot at by the mob, and getting brutally murdered and resurected twice, he's a bit off his rocker. Paranoid, manic depressive, obsessive compulsive, he spends most of his time in his bedroom, and takes a hell of a lot of medication. He joined the team because he's afraid to live by himself.
The First Arc: It all starts with the team on the run and high tailing it out of New York after a bank heist got screwed up by the untimely arrival of Maxwell Dillon, A.K.A. Electro. They head to Chicago. But when they steal something very important that turns out to be the property of a very powerful and very corrupt buisnessman, they're forced to contend with the assassin sent to kill them and steal it back, none other than the mastery of murderous merryment, Arcade.
Loki
The Cast: Loki, Fenrir, Hela, Jormungandr, Hecate, Tess Black, The Enchantress.
The Premise: The series chronicles Loki's day to day life, ranging from traveling to exotic places, mystical realms, or even other planets, toying with gods and humans alike for his own amusement, trying to get revenge on the people of Asgard, and just hanging around the house not doing much of anything. The series would also explore his past, through flashbacks, and show how he went from a reclusive young intelectual to a flamboyant prankster to an obsessive madman, as well as showing the long periods of his history we've never seen, between his imprisonments and atempts to bring Asgard to it's knees where he was absent. The series would also focus on his children, expanding upon his illigitimate daughter, Tess Black, have Loki having a sort of Therapist/Patient relationship with The Enchantress, and introduce a new character, the Greek Godess Hecate, as Loki's long time friend. Stories would alternate between Loki playing the part of hero, villain, and just some guy, depending on the situation and, of course, his mood. While there would be more than a few truely grim episodes, the series would strive to be, for the most part, a comedy, albiet a somewhat dark one.
The First Arc: With the return of Asgard, naturally, Loki and his Brood have to return as well. It's just how these things work. Loki finds himself seeking out his children, and trying to get his life back together, although, deciding to "take a break" from the whole "destruction of Asgard" thing. However, things take an interesting turn when his youngest daughter, Tess, is found to be missing.
