Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez Batman's old enemy Hush has returned. He captured the Joker and tortured him to near death, leaving Batman in a position where he could easily just walk away and leave his oldest foe to die. What will he do?  "Hush 2 Chapter 2 The Rook" opens with Bruce flashing back to that fateful night in Park Row, which was renamed to Crime Alley. Batman drives along the Batmobile with a half-dead Joker next to him. He's not sure what bothers him more, the decision he made or that Hush made it for him. As he recalls the death of his parents, he comments that it wasn't Alfred that first found him, but a woman that didn't even know him. She was Leslie Thompkins, who heard the gunshots and took in the lost boy. Every year they would visit Crime Alley together on the anniversary of his parents' deaths. Not many people knew Bruce's secrets the way she did. Batman brings the Joker in to see Leslie, telling her he has a low pulse and is barely breathin...

 By Mark Rodriguez There's a new Venom running around and there are four possible suspects. Luke Cage was a possible candidate, but Venom was shot in the face with the bullet going through instead of bouncing off him. Madam Masque was another suspect but she has been seen fighting against Venom directly on two separate occasions. Rick Jones might have been Venom, but turned out to be another symbiote named Sleeper. That only leaves Robbie. Is Robbie Robertson really the All-New Venom? Venom's host will be revealed!! The issue opens with Robbie paying MJ and Paul a visit. Paul wasn't expecting Robbie and asks if he's here for Dylan. Paul explains that Dylan should be in school, and they discuss that he made a list of possible suspects for Venom's new host. Robbie says he actually came to see MJ. Paul says that she currently has an appointment. Robbie asks if she's running around as herself or as Jackpot, which surprises Paul. Robbie says he's covered every p...

 By Mark Rodriguez The mystery continues to determine which one of the four suspects, Robbie Robertson, Rick Jones, Luke Cage or Madame Masque is the All-New Venom.  At a recent altercation at one of Masque's old hideouts, Chance shot Venom in the face, which rules out Luke Cage since he's bulletproof. Madam Masque herself was there, so that also rules her out. After getting away from Venom, we find out that Madam Masque is working with MODOK. The issue opens in North Brother Island, in a specialized prison for symbiotes, where Flash is feeding a symbiote named Toxin some chocolate and synthesized brain chemicals. Toxin asks how Bren is doing. Flash says he's at home where a kid his age should be, and he is safe. Toxin says he was safe with him. Flash asks if he remembers what happened to his last host. Toxin nonchalantly says he died. Toxin thanks Flash for the chocolate, saying if it were anyone else they'd let him starve. Flash says he's more of a trustee than ...

 By Mark Rodriguez This time around we only had three comics in our pullbox. However there are two comics we need to hunt down, namely that Street Fighter Masters Guile comic and the latest issue of TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures. It's Free Comic Book Day next week though, so we'll see. Thundercats # 14 I'll eventually get into this one. I'm gonna have to binge-read these. Eddie Brock Carnage # 3 I'll catch up on this one, but based on the cover it looks like Eddie Carnage is going after the Punisher villain, the Bushwhacker. Batman # 159  Hush has returned to Gotham, and he tortured the Joker to the brink of death. It looks like Batman has to decide whether or not to save the Joker as he lays dying... but now Jason Todd got involved.. and we all know how he feels about the Joker, don't we? Batman # 159 Hush 2 Review   Clearly the Batman Hush story is the big one this week. They got the regular cover and this shinier foil cover. On top of that they got gian...

 By Mark Rodriguez Doctor Doom has successfully ruled the world, so he finds it fitting that he should form his own team of Avengers. Who will form a team of Avengers worthy of Doctor Doom? Let's see what happens. "The Everlasting Gaze" opens in Washington DC as Annihilus is chasing down a woman while all sorts of insect creatures and giant worms are attacking the Capitol. The woman trips and falls and is about to get destroyed by the villain, when suddenly she is yanked out of the way. The woman is rescued by a woman dressed like the Black Panther and they land a safe distance away from the action. The woman thanks her, and the costumed rescuer tells her to stay out of the way, as she leaps back into battle. We see a woman version of Doctor Octopus, who is destroying the insects with her metallic tentacles. Killmonger (the woman dressed like Black Panther) asks if she's seen Malekith and Doctor Octopus tells her than he seems to be enjoying himself. Malekith is des...

 By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Keep in mind, these were our thoughts as they were back in 2013 when the show was new and was written shortly after seeing the episodes after their initial broadcast. At the time we had zero way of knowing what to expect.  The Shredder has had a lot of different henchmen, top men or second-in-commands throughout different versions of the franchise. He had Tatsu in the live-action movies. Hun and Karai in the 2003 series. Karai and Koya in the IDW comics. But we all know the most popular henchmen will always be Bebop and Rocksteady from the classic 80's cartoon show. That incompetent duo that Shredder still keeps around for some reason... back in the day where Shredder didn't punish failure with death. Here, he'd rather send them to their rooms, or even fire them if they failed enough times. Well it seems we're getting Bebop and Rocksteady in the new cartoon too, though I'm surprised since interviews wi...

By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Sunday, July 27, 2014. Keep in mind, these were our thoughts as they were back in 2013 when the show was new and was written shortly after seeing the episodes after their initial broadcast. At the time we had zero way of knowing what to expect.  Karai is in the Shredder's hideout looking at a picture of her mother, while having flashbacks of the Turtles telling her that Splinter is her father. Shredder walks into the room and she demands to know the truth about Splinter and her mother. Just then Tiger Claw comes in, much to Karai's surprise as she saw him get eaten by an alien worm and trapped into the 80's TMNT world. Tiger Claw explains that he was able to escape the worm (and defeat the 80's TMNT) and fight his way through Dimension X for months until he could finally return home. Shredder sends Tiger Claw and Karai together to find the Turtles and Splinter, much to her disagreement. The Turtles are hanging at Murakami's, w...