Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez As the cold starts setting in, we got several comics from a Hipcomic auction. I was hunting for a comic that Wendy brought up and that led to me finding it on a live auction for cheap, alongside other books. I got most of the comics I bid for and they were shipped just before any snow comes our way. Let's see what we got.   The Uncanny X-Men and Teen Titans # 1- Darkseid has taken control of the Phoenix, so the Teen Titans and the X-Men have to team up to save the world! This was the main comic that Wendy was looking for that led to today's mini-haul. Kitty Pryde and Wolverine # 1, 4 and 5- A six-issue mini-series as Wolverine and Kitty Pryde head for Japan. Before X23 or Jubilee, Kitty was Wolverine's sidekick. I'll eventually track down issue 2, 3 and 6. Batman # 454- This was the last issue of a 3-part story I never got to finish back when I was a kid in my Chicago days. In this one the Riddler had started a deadlier-than-usual series of riddles ...

 By Mark Rodriguez This time we hit Alpha Comics where suddenly we had a bit of a stack to take home rather than just two or three comics. Not only did I have to catch up on the Ninja Turtles... it seems Udon finally released several of their comics that have been oh hold for months... all the same time. They actually released three different Mega Man series on the same day! Anyways, let's see what we got.   Darkstalkers X Street Fighter Rogues # 1- Part three of the Lords of the Makai storyline. Tales of the TMNT # 3- Part three of the robot camp story as the rest of the Turtles show up to help Donnie and Metalhead take on Bishop. TMNT Battle Nexus # 2- Leonardo goes up against the original Mirage Shredder! TMNT Battle Nexus # 3- Raphael goes up against Alopex?? MegaMan X # 0- Separate from the Timelines one-shot series, this one is going to be a series. Street Fighter Masters- Elena # 1- After a long-awaited delay, the Elena comic is finally here! Street Fighter Master...

 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...