Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez It's only fitting that we get a special devote to April O'Neil for the month of April. Similar to the Halloween Special, the story takes place after the events of TMNT Saturday Morning # 11, so it's not just a random story for the sake of it. Let's see what kind of mess our intrepid reporter gets into this time. The issue opens with April O'Neil covering the story of the recent dimensional anomalies happening over the last few weeks. There have been things like dinosaurs, cowboy dinosaurs and even presidential dinosaurs running around. April is on the scene interviewing Professor McGuffin on when he thinks these things will end. The professor explains these events have gone from lasting for days to hours over the last few weeks. He predicts they will stop altogether by the end of the week. April wraps up the report and McGuffin says hi to his mom on TV. The professor doesn't notice a portal appearing above him and April shoves him out of the w

 By Mark Rodriguez The Shredder finally forged the Forever Blade, and during a fight with the Turtles, the blade was shattered and he was trapped in feudal Japan with Leonardo. With the original sword gone, Shredder was able to obtain the original Forever Blade that was forged by Eddiku Yuri and used it to return to present day. The Turtles were able bring Leonardo back with the help of Renet, but now Shredder is preparing to bring back the Technodrome!! 'The Two Swords Meet' (The Sword of Eddiku Part 3) opens up in Donatello's lab, where Donnie is using the shards of broken replica to track down the original sword. He was able to find a similar energy signature in Long Island, but he will need Shredder to use the sword for something big so they can track it down. Meanwhile in Long Island, Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady are ready to bring back the Technodrome. Shredder offers to bring a Technodrome from the future instead (the upgraded one seen in Turtles Forever) a

 By Mark Rodriguez The Shredder finally succeeded in forging the Forever Blade which can cut through time and space. He decided to test it out with a bank robbery and the Turtles show up to stop him. During the fight, Leonardo uses a new technique that shatters the sword just as Shredder was about to create a portal. There's a big flash and Leonardo and Shredder are gone. While the rest of the Turtles wonder where they went, we see that Leonardo and Shredder ended up in ancient Japan, without a way back! 'This Circle Really Isn't That Flat' (The Sword of Eddiku Part 2) opens at TCRI, where Professor McGuffin is studying the shards of the Forever Blade that Donatello managed to find after their recent battle. McGuffin remembers the meteorite ore being pretty much indestructible and asks how it was forged into a sword and shattered. Donatello says the person that stole the ore used other-dimensional technology. The professor would want to meet him and Donatello says he re

 By Mark Rodriguez The Shredder has stolen a rare meteor from the TCRI labs while the Turtles were busy dealing with the Rat King. While the Turtles have been busy with several adventures and facing several villains, Shredder has been busy finding ways to forge the meteor into another 'ninja sword to nowhere'. It seems he has finally succeeded when he enlisted the aid of a master swords smith, Kai Eddiku.  "Cutting Through The Universe " (The Sword of Eddiku part 1) opens up in the Turtes lair as Michaelangelo is weidling a sword and protective gear to assist Leonardo with a new technique. Splinter says one of the best ways to defend is to remove the opponent's ability to attack. Splinter leaps at Michaelangelo with a sword, who blocks the attack. He tells Michaelangelo to strike back. When he does, Splinter swings his blade and it shatters Michaelangelo's weapon. The Turtles are amazed and Raphael says it's lucky they get their weapons wholesale. Splinter

 By Mark Rodriguez Bruce has been locked up in Blackgate prison alongside the Joker while android Failsafe with Zur-En-Arrh's personality is running around Gotham as Batman. Having taken down the Riddler, Failsafe is trying to convince the rest of the Bat-Family that he is Bruce Wayne, and Damian might have fallen for it. Bruce tries to escape and run into his old mentor, Daniel Captio, who originally helped create his Zur-En-Arrh personality. Dark Prisons Part 2 opens with flashbacks of the times when Joker beat Jason to death and shot Barbara Gordon. Daniel explains that Joker tried time and time again to make Batman reveal his 'true Batman' identity. This eventually happened during the situation involving the Back Glove, but no matter what Joker would do, Batman would always retreat back into Bruce Wayne. This was until Joker finally crossed the line, he gained access to the Bat Cave and got to Alfred. While under the effects of the Joker Toxin, Alfred told Joker about

 By Mark Rodriguez It's time to check in on modern day Batman for a while. Things have been rough for Bruce Wayne these days, seeing that Vandal Savage now owns Wayne Manor and Alfred is dead and has so far stayed dead. He also discovered he has a 'pure Batman' personality named Zur-En-Arrh that is itching to come out and take over. We start off a new story called Dark Prisons, which I understand is part of a longer ongoing narrative, so I'll do my best to jump in and keep up. Dark Prisons Part 1 opens with Bruce Wayne and the Joker being trapped in Zur-En-Arrh's prison. Bruce is only wearing the lower half of his Batman costume and Joker is stuck in a body brace and strapped to a prison bed. Bruce realizes that Joker knew about his mentors, and it's possible that Daniel Captio trained him to control his mind. Captio was the one that helped Bruce create the persona of Zur-En-Arrh. Joker says he has only seen Zur twice, who he considers to be the 'real'