Those who have few too quarters in their pockets won't need to collect every connected issue. Instead, the only requirements for following House of M is the eight-issue bi-weekly miniseries itself. However, the ideas put forth in House of M is expected to inspire readers to follow the offshoots. Purchasing every issue provides the picture of a massive epic, but picking and choosing titles will not leave readers in the dark.

Marvel has failed to provide long-term ramifications from its past crossovers. That won't be an issue with House of M, thanks to the foresight of Brian Michael Bendis and other Marvel creators. Once HoM wraps up, the Marvel Universe will be forever changed and every Marvel title for the foreseeable future will be affected. How? That must remain a mystery for now. However, it's not just so much that characters will be fundamentally changed, but the world in which the heroes live will be forever altered. The events of House of M are expected to lead to brand new types of stories and open up new avenues for Marvel creators to exploit.

Back in the '70s, Marvel creators challenged themselves to outdo the greatness of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby by creating new characters and telling different types of stories. Marvel has taken a step back from this attitude for some time and House of M is an effort to bring back the daring-do of Marvel's premier creators.

"It's still going to be the Marvel Universe, it's just something will have happened to the Marvel Universe and now the characters will be dealing with that." House of M writer Brian Michael Bendis explains, "And from there you get new kinds of stories. We love the Marvel Universe, we're not just turning it on its head because we think we know better. It's a love letter, if anything, to almost every Magneto story and every Avengers story that came before it."

It's not clear if the characters involved in the series -- which includes just about every mutant and all Avengers new and old -- will be aware of what's happening to the world around them. However, at the end of issue #3, which includes a final page that is promised to "bring down the Internet," it will be clear where everyone stands. Essentially, the line in the sand is drawn, everyone takes a side and the remaining five issues tell the story of what is certain to be one of Marvel's most epic battles.

Following the events of House of M, many new villains and heroes will emerge -- even multiple ongoing series. One of the new characters, a mutant named Layla Miller, is central to both the events of the miniseries and to the Marvel Universe for some time afterwards. Along with new characters, such as Layla, many old characters who haven't been heard from in some time will reappear thanks to the events on HoM.

"What I'm most happy about in House of M is the planning of the aftermath. You've seen certain events happen in any company where the event itself was spectacular, but the aftermath was almost disastrous," Bendis said. "We're putting the main Marvel characters in a position they've never been in before and watching them deal with it emotionally and physically."

While the major mysteries of House of M won't be discovered until the miniseries hits stands this June, it's clear that Marvel has put a lot of thought into the future of its titles. What we do know is that the Marvel Universe will see a radical change that will deeply affect almost every single Marvel character in some way. Magneto, the X-Men and the Avengers will be the prime players and a bevy of new characters are on the horizon. It's a gamble, but one Marvel seems confident in taking.

"It's a very emotional book," Bendis stressed. Given fan reaction to the death of Hawkeye during the events of "Avengers Disassembled," it's certain that whatever House of M brings, comic-book fans will indeed become very emotional.