Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez Sister Rosalia, The Magdalena, was called to investigate the murders at a Paris Church. Her investigation led her to a young woman that was recently bitten and turned into a vampire. As she tries to help her, she is attacked by a coven of vampires! I have to advise to some that this issue goes into darker themes, some might be triggering, so do read this at your own discretion.  "Blood Divine Part 2" opens with Sister Rosalia, drawing her blade against the vampires. A woman named Giselle rushes over to Rosalia, grabbing her by the throat and picking her up. Giselle bears her fangs and says she hasn't had breakfast. Another vampire named Michael stops her. Giselle says she was just playing and drops Rosalia into an open grave. Rosalia leaps back, ready to strike, but she found that all of the vampires have vanished.  Rosalia returns to the church and asks the Father for a phone. She calls for Lamiae and tells the person that she has encountered vampires....

 By Mark Rodriguez This was one of the comics advertised in the Tomb Raider comic which made me curious. I was lucky enough to find this issue (and 2 and 3) in a basement comic sale this past weekend for only 2 bucks rather than the higher costs online (not to mention the shipping costs). I'm glad I waited before buying it online. This series must have been popular seeing as how the long boxes had its own Magdalena section. So let's check this out and see what this is all about.  'Blood Divine Part 1' opens in a church on a Paris night as a priest is up praying for the strength to stand against the wickedness that demons have sent after him. He hears something and thinks it's someone named Colette. It's some sort of growling creature that leaps out and chases the priest. As he runs from the dark figure, he crashes into an altar adorned with candles, the hot wax and flames falling over his face.  The holy man prays for his life as the creature smacks his head bac...

 By Mark Rodriguez Lara Croft has rocked the world in 1996 as a thrill-seeking world-traveling adventurer when Tomb Raider hit the SEGA Saturn and Sony Playstation. Garnering a huge fanbase due to the action-packed gameplay as well as Lara's looks and overall bad-assness, it's no surprise she'd eventually branch out into other forms of media or merchandising. In 1999 she got herself a comic book series from Top Cow and Image comics. Thanks to Hipcomics I was able to grab a copy, so let's check it out.  'The Medusa Mask' opens in Iran as the narrator explains how dangerous the place can be, especially towards thieves. Several Iranian soldiers are looking for 'the westerner' and start taking off the hijabs of any woman they see. One of them takes the hijab off a particular woman who turns out to be Lara Croft. One of the men sets her gun to her head and she tells him if he shoots, he'll mess up the 2200-year old necklace he's been told to recover. ...