Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez We've been away from Third Eye for a while and we just had to go visit before that pull box stack got too high. Not only is this the first haul of the year, it's probably the biggest one we ever had so far. We have a lot of reading to catch up.    Spider-Man & Wolverine # 8- Spider-Man and Wolverine face off against Arachnix, a new villain with the combined powers of both. Spider-Man & Wolverine # 9- The fight against Arachnix continues!  Batgirl # 14 - The adventure continues. Batgirl # 15- Things seem calm... for now...  Black Cat # 5- Looks like Black Cat is Wanted once again. Black Cat # 6- Black Cat teams up with Daredevil.  Redcoat # 16- This one's for Wendy. The New Avengers # 7- The adventures continue!  Sai Dimensional Rivals # 1- Based on the Marvel Rivals series, we see Sai, a variant of Psylocke, and her adventures across the multiverse. Psylocke Ninja # 1- Taking place early in her career we see how Bets...

 By Mark Rodriguez Venom has been around since the 90's and has had many adventures (and hosts) along the way. From Spider-Man-obsessed maniac to a Lethal Protector, he had many stories to tell. Just like similarly named comics, 'Black, White & Blood' will feature random stories from different artists and writers from different points of the symbiote's life. They'll be black and white but with the added gimmick that the color red is thrown in there too. Let's check out the first issue!   "Force Majeure" opens in the Pennsylvania Woodlands several years ago. A scientist leads two armed gunmen, one named Al and the other named Jerry Clay. Al tells Jerry to catch up, and Jerry says they have a head start and they're after 'just one man'. The scientist asks Jerry if he saw what it did to the others. He says they're not after a man, but a monster. Al tells Dr. Langston that he saw the guy on TV and he just looks like a big guy running a...

 By Mark Rodriguez IDW has been reprinting the classic Mirage comics over the years. For some reason they decided to give these new subtitles for the later volumes, so Volume 3 was called Urban Legends and Volume 4 is going to be called Journeys. Originally released in 2021, Volume 4 deals with the Turtles as they reach adulthood and deal with an ever-changing world that now accepts space aliens to live among them. Let's step back in time and check out the beginning of the final volume of the Mirage TMNT.    The story opens on the moon as a robot leaps across the surface. He finds an old moon base and is impressed by how well it held up over the years. As he inspects the base, he gets a message and says he'll be along shortly. The robot does several moon jumps and meets up with an Utrom. The Utrom asks if he had found the artifact. The robot says he did and called it a wonderful piece of human history. He was tempted to take a souvenir but thought better of it. He asks if...

 By Mark Rodriguez Based on the cartoon series that follows up on the TMNT Mutant Mayhem movie, Donatello joins a robotics science camp where he uses Metalhead to win a competition. However this seems to be a front for Bishop who plans to mass-produce Metalhead for her evil plans. What will happen next?   The camp fire story continues as Donatello tells the others how he kept working on Metalhead at the robotics camp. The others laugh as it seems Donatello cuddled Metalhead in his sleep (why would Donnie tell them that part? lol). Donatello tells everyone to hush up since he was getting to the action-packed part of the story. Donatello spars with Metalhead and explains that the robot has gotten so responsive, he doesn't need to control his movements with the motion-capture outfit anymore. Donatello tells Irma to shut the robot off for now. The camp leader is hiding behind a tree watching this unfold. Irma says with this final test they can officially retire the motion capture ...

 By Mark Rodriguez Lately the Street Fighter Masters comics have been all over the place. We were supposed to get one about Guile and one about Elena. We finally got the Zangief one instead. The others are still coming, as far as I can tell, just... whenever. Let's see what adventures await the Red Cyclone.   The issue opens with Zangief smashing his alarm clock and starting his morning routine. He keeps reminding himself 'five more days' as he guzzles down some coffee. Rainbow Mika is outside waiting for him and says she's been up since four. Zangief says she looks eager to refine the routine required to reach the ranks of perfection. The first step in their routine is to run. Both of them dash off.   As they run, Zangief explains that their strongest muscle is not in their arms or their abs, it's their glutes. This is why he suggests running, running and more running. He says that maintaining stamina will not be easy as they must fight against laziness, which lurk...

 By Mark Rodriguez Lara Croft and her new assistant Madeline, have come into the possession of a gem called The Eye of Shaharettin which is said to allow the person holding it to see visions into the future. A secret organization called the Midnight Squires have set their eyes on Lara and want their gem back. Along the way a security expert named John Rivers and Chase Carver joined her team. Lara, John and Chase head for the Bayou swamps in search of the one man that escaped from the Midnight Squires and survived. As they try to cross a river, they get sucked into a whirlpool. How will this story conclude?   "Dead Center Part 4" opens with Lara, Chase and John being sucked up in the whirlpool. As everyone is flung around, the gem slips from John's grasp. Lara sees it and tries to grab it. She figures she should let it go and worry more about saving herself... but just not her style. Lara tries her best to hold out, but just as she's about to grab the gem, a man r...

 By Mark Rodriguez It's been quite a year for Wendy and me. Not only did we get married, we also were able to buy a house (after much effort, loans and a mountain of paperwork of course). We got to visit Vegas where I not only got to chill with my bro but we also saw the old VGM gang again.  We got several cool games and interesting movies this year. Lots of cool comics, both new and old. I finally got to complete my Power Girl collection and have set my sights on the Tomb Raider comics. The 80's TMNT continue to go strong in their comic series and we got a DC and Marvel crossover which we thought we'd never see again since the 90's. Doctor Doom ruled the world, and Batman has his on-going series and a rebooted number one series happening at the same time due to Hush 2 delays. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was a fun movie, Fatal Fury City of the Wolves won Best Fighting Game of the year at the Game Awards and we found out that Chris Evans will be in the upcoming Avenger...