Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez Pretty much every character in the 80's TMNT cartoon would break the fourth wall every now and then, mentioning that they were in an 'episode' or calling out 'the writers' and such, with Raphael being the main offender. What happens when the Turtles actually get in trouble for it? Let's find out.  "A Far-Out Encounter of the Ogg King" opens with Screwloose telling the reader that their latest plan to take over the world is foolproof, as Wingnut ties April up, The Turtles are fighting against giant robot roaches as Leonardo asks if anybody knows what their plan is. Raphael says this is the problem with starting things in the middle of a story, it confuses everybody. Wingnut tells April that things would have been easier if she didn't try to mess with them.  Screwloose puts on a device on his nose and uses it as a laser gun. Raphael comments that every time forgotten villains return, they always come back with a new look or gimmick...

 By Mark Rodriguez The Turtles still haven't found the Shredder and recovered the meteor that he stole. It seems Shredder has more things up his sleeve as he is now putting together the first ever Shreddercon! What will the Turtles do? Not particularly the cover I wanted, but for some reason this issue was hard to find so beggars can't be choosers. 'Shreddercon' opens with April reporting that City Hall has taken action to cancel the year's St. Nick-Con. It's a tradition where people run around dressed as Santa while acting in the most obnoxious way possible. Some examples include racing reindeer through Times Square and filling the Rockefeller Ice Rink with coal. Revelers say they will continue the tradition even if the city won't allow them to do so while dressed as Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Shredder, in regular clothes, meets up with a man named Kai Eddiku. Oroku Saki knows that his ancestor Eddiku Yuri created a powerful sword from the ore of a meteorite. ...

 By Mark Rodriguez I've been reading older Black Widow runs and the recent White Widow run. Let's see what Black Widow is up to nowadays in her latest run. It seems that this time Natasha has a symbiote.... 'Broken Arrow part 1' opens in Siberia as a man stumbled down a hill trying to escape from something or someone. He falls on his back and symbiote spiders start to crawl on his face, all of them eager to bite him. Black Widow tells them 'not yet', for the man still deserves a chance to speak for himself. Black Widow asks the man about the target he was paid to kill. She says he can either tell her, or her spiders will get the information for her. The man says the target he was looking for, Hawkeye, is dead. She asks the spiders to show her his mind, as they start to attack him. As the spiders morph back into pieces of the symbiote and return to her, she can now look into the man's memories. She sees Clint was in an explosion, but she won't believe it...

 By Mark Rodriguez The Turtles have stopped all sorts of wacky schemes to take over the world, but what will they do when one of them tries to take over the city legally? Chrome Dome runs for office!! 'Shiny and Chrome' opens with The Turtles watching April on TV as she reports on the upcoming election for mayor between the candidates Nick Jefferson and Al Polk. Raphael asks if they can switch to wrestling instead since those guys are actually able to hit each other with steel chairs. Splinter says it's important to know about those that would lead them. Even though they can't vote personally, they should still be prepared for any position those in the government might take.  April says both candidates are pretty much neck and neck and hope to get an edge over each other after their current face off. Burne Thompson asks Mr. Polk on behalf of the New York Hamburger Association about all the new pizzerias opening up recently that are cutting into its business. Polk says ...

 By Mark Rodriguez While checking out several comics over at Bent Wookie, I found the first three issues of this four-part story. I held off until I could get the final issue so I can have the full story. Now that I found the fourth issue in a comic shop named Stories, let's check out what this story is about.  We start at the Ballant Compound in Rubtsovsk Russia as some military men hide in a room. Their trackers and other devices aren't working and the alarms have been disabled. Just then they see a man with a mask and they open fire, killing him. They realize he was one of theirs with black tape wrapped around his face. They see that he was used a decoy and the Black Widow leaps in and takes them all out. Widow reports to Ivan via earpiece that she might reach Gregor before he's aware of the attack. Ivan says it's doubtful because he knows they're aware of his rogue weapons dealings and he'll hide in his Red Room at the slightest warning.  Black Widow reacts ...

 By Mark Rodriguez Yelena Belova, the White Widow, moved to the small town of Idylhaven to leave her life as a spy and assassin behind. However, it's easier said that done as a company called Armament has their eyes on the town. They're buying everyone out and threatening those that refuse to leave. They are also sending Yelena's former protégés after her.  The story opens with a flashback as Yelena is working with Wolverine. The person they're following overhears their banter but also steps on a tripwire, causing a loud explosion. Yelena says she used enough semtex to ensure the assassin will survive the blast. Wolverine's ears burst and he says she has no idea how bad his eardrums pop when they heal. Yelena and Wolverine stand over the assassin. Yelena tells her that next time she shouldn't try to kill an X-Men when he isn't already being tailed by a better assassin. The woman says she isn't here to kill Yelena, but to kill Wolverine. Yelena says that ...

 By Mark Rodriguez The Rippaverse continues to thrive with multiple million dollar campaigns. Their third book AlphaCore ended its campaign at 1.3 million. We first saw them trying to handle Yaira in Isom # 1, and they had a short scene examining those events in Isom # 2. Now that they have their own book, let's see what else we can find out about them.  The issue opens with a masked man holding a woman at gunpoint in front of Texas Trust. He threatens everyone to back off or he'll blow everybody up since he has explosives strapped around himself. The area is surrounded by an armed police force. The one in charge tells the man to drop the gun and that nobody needs to die today. The man says everyone will die today and he's ready to go. Just then he is lifted off the ground, which surprises the female hostage. Bryan Solari is holding onto the gunman, who open fires on him. The bullets bounce off him, though Bryan complains they still hurt and his cape isn't free. Bryan a...