“Kombat Time!”: A Mortal Kombat Comics Retrospective (Part 1)

Hello, my friends.  The world has a tendency to put us in physically and mentally exhausting moments.  However, it all feels miniscule compared to the harrowing and blood-soaked situations that our main fighting figures have gone up against throughout the decades.  In honor of this franchise celebrating its 30th Anniversary, it’s fitting that I once again enter the Retrospective ring.  On that note, I welcome you to a special article called…

Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the series first came about as far back as 1989, but development kicked into high gear once “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” hit the arcade scenes in 1991.  Taking only 10 months to make amongst the various inspirations that included (but were not limited to) Data East’s “Karate Champ” and Mr. Bloodsport himself: Jean-Claude Van Damme (who ultimately served as the physical inspiration for a certain action movie-based character within the game), nobody was remotely prepared for the impact that it was about to deliver to the masses.

Released in the arcades on October 8, 1992, it would make a name for itself amongst fighting game enthusiasts.  Not only that, but its eventual release onto the home consoles on September 13, 1993 (known historically as “Mortal Monday”) would continue to help it make some significant waves.

On a particular note, the arcade game also originally presented an interesting offer during its attract mode.  That notable offer is exactly where our four-paneled journey into this historical look begins.

Originally published in 1992, “Mortal Kombat Collector’s Edition” served as a prologue to the franchise’s inaugural game.  With series co-creator John Tobias handling both writing and illustrating duties, here’s what happened in the lead-up to this initial clash.

We open on some narration about the Shaolin Tournament, which was an honorable and glorious competition that managed to attract various fighters from around the globe.  However, it also caught the attention of a devious figure named Shang Tsung who managed to ultimately win the title of grand champion.  En route to his title however, he also had to fulfill a curse that “his gods” had placed upon him where he sucked out the souls of every fighter that he defeated, which also allowed him to keep a firm grasp upon his youth.  Thankfully, his reign would get disrupted by “a noble and mighty Shaolin monk” named the Great Kung Lao, whose strength and speed bested the overly-confident fiend as he ultimately won the title.  Several years later, one of the tournament’s three grandmasters would meet a mysterious end as Shang Tsung reemerged as a decrepit-looking man and has brought “an Outworlder and former pupil” into the contest.  That being turns out to be the Shokan warrior named Goro whose own abnormal strength and speed ultimately bested the Great Kung Lao in a lengthy contest.  With Shang Tsung seated amongst the grandmasters, the Shaolin honor would slowly be drained from the tournament and serve as his own lifeline towards immortality.  We then shift ahead by five centuries to the Honan Province in China where a young Shaolin Monk named Liu Kang had grown up hearing various tales about Shang Tsung’s contest.  With him fully-aware of the evil within the tournament, he decides to accept his recently-received invitation.  From there, he informs Master Wu of his intentions to take part in the contest.  He warns his pupil to “not overlook the motive of Tsung’s initiation”, since losing to Goro would permanently cripple their attempt to reclaim their tournament.  Even though Liu says that his four-armed foe has grown over-confident from his lengthy amount of wins, Wu still tells him that his “mind and spirit” must work as one in order for him to prevail.  As such, he gives Kang permission to participate.

We then shift ahead two weeks later in Hong Kong as a martial arts movie star named Johnny Cage has also been invited into the tournament and is about to get on a sail barge that will head towards the contest.  Despite his agent telling him that he hasn’t even heard of this competition and his personal secretary informing him that he has to take part in the filming of an upcoming movie, Johnny refuses to reconsider as he tells them that he’ll return in two weeks before he makes his way onto the boat.  Meanwhile, a chase is occurring a few miles away as a group of thugs called the Black Dragon are being pursued.  During their conversation amongst each other, it’s revealed that their leader named Kano is looking to take part in the contest and win it in order to gain access to what he thinks is a palace filled with lots of gold.  From there, he leaps onto the bullet-proof van that’s pursuing them and runs across its roof.  Inside the vehicle, a group of Special Forces agents hear their prime suspect dashing over them before Lt. Sonya Blade sees Kano attempting to flee.  As such, she tells a fellow agent named Jake that they’re going after him.  A foot pursuit ensues before Kano surprises them with some gunfire.  However, he wasn’t aiming for them and instead shoots some gasoline barrels, causing them to blow up.  This manages to serve enough of a distraction, allowing Kano to leap onto the fleeing boat.  Sonya says that they can’t open fire on him, since they would risk shooting one of the innocent patrons on board.  As such, she’ll get in contact with a speeder boat and wait for the wooden ship to get far out to sea before they engage it.

Over within the mountainous regions of Japan, Shang calls out to a certain Thunder God and demands for him to take part in his tournament.  Suddenly, he gets approached by the mighty being named Raiden who calls him out for his less-than-noble contest before he accepts the invitation.  Back over on the China Sea, the potential combatants are still heading out towards the contest.  However, Kano decides to fight Cage.  As Liu watches this scuffle, Johnny is able to take advantage of a distracting lull as he uses a Shadow Kick to retaliate.  Kang even gets in on the action and helps him defeat Kano, along with the rest of the devious fighters.  As their adversaries take their leave, Liu tells Cage to proceed with caution.

Unbeknownst to them, they’re being watched by a Lin Kuei assassin named Bi-Han a.k.a. Sub-Zero.  However, he’s then approached by a ninja spectre named Hanzo Hasashi a.k.a. Scorpion.  Bi-Han is surprised to see him, especially since he killed off his foe.  Even though he was able to return from the dead and could get his murderous revenge right now, Hanzo says that he’ll wait until the tournament in order to make him pay.  As a new day dawns, the ship finally arrives at its destination alongside several other seacrafts.  After the combatants have had time to practice and train, they get an announcement from Shang Tsung who thanks them for making the journey to the contest.  From there, he then reveals that Sonya and a pair of her fellow agents were captured.  With our original core group of fighters gathered, the comic ends with Goro officially declaring the tournament to begin.

Despite the controversy surrounding its violent content, it was still a major success and thus, a sequel was developed before getting released into the arcades in late 1993.  Eventually, the initial batch of home console ports would get released on September 13, 1994, also known as “Mortal Tuesday”.

Just like the inaugural entry, the sequel would announce to its fans via its attract mode of some tie-in merchandise.  In addition to the first game’s comic, there was also a CD soundtrack for the second outing.  Not only that, but there was also our next featured book.

Released in 1994, the “Mortal Kombat II Collector’s Comic” saw Tobias write, draw and co-color this entry.  Joining him on this venture was Andy Kudelka, while Tony Goskie also helped out on coloring duties.  With this team gathered, here’s how this prologue tale plays out.

We begin as Johnny Cage narrates about how Liu Kang defeated Goro and won the Mortal Kombat tournament.  However, Shang Tsung refuses to let some fresh souls slip away as he sends the now-former Shokan champion and a few hundred other warriors against our main group.  Johnny, Kano & Sonya join forces to fight Goro, Raiden unites with both Scorpion & Sub-Zero to properly fight the opposing army and Liu Kang goes up against Shang Tsung himself.  During their fight on top of the Pit, the over-arching bridge gets destroyed via an explosion as Goro, Kano & Lt. Blade vanish within the blaze.  Cage managed to grab onto the bridge, but it ultimately crumbles as he begins to plummet as well.  Suddenly, Raiden flies in and saves him.  The Thunder God explains that because Shang Tsung has been supposedly killed in battle by Liu Kang, the whole island is now blowing up around them since it was held together by the sorcerer’s own existence.  He also explains that Liu has managed to escape, while Sub-Zero was killed by Scorpion shortly after Shang Tsung’s army was defeated before he vanished in his own flames.  From there, Johnny and Raiden manage to escape through a portal before the blast sends them flying into the ocean.

Sometime later, Cage regains his consciousness while he’s floating on some wood within the East China Sea.  Fortunately, he notices a ship sailing towards him as he calls out to it.  While it does approach him, its occupants soon point their guns at him before bringing him on board.  It’s then revealed that Johnny was rescued and brought to a U.S. Special Forces base where he’s been interrogated by Mj. Jackson Briggs a.k.a. Jax.  Despite his teammate named Lt. Steve Beran telling him that this story has been repeatedly told to them with the same details, Jax doesn’t entirely believe him.  Despite that, he’ll still lets Cage go before he threatens the movie star that he’ll return for him once he has his evidence.

Over in Outworld, Shang Tsung has been brought back to his master’s castle by the Goran King of Kuatan named Gorbak.  He demands for the sorcerer to be brought to his kingdom and get executed there since his son Goro has seemingly perished, especially since Earthrealm’s warriors were severely underestimated.  However, Outworld’s emperor named Shao Kahn says that they must look past Goro’s supposed demise, especially since he still needs to expand his rule beyond his domain.  However, he can’t conquer Earthrealm unless its fighters are bested.  From there, he asks Shang Tsung why he shouldn’t personally execute him.  The disgraced sorcerer explains that any realm has the “right of challenge”, as long as they’re able to breach other dimensional gates.  If he’s allowed to have his youth returned to him, then he’ll have the strength to open a portal that’s big enough for them to send a small army into Earthrealm.  Shao Kahn then asks a Shadow Priest about his own future should he follow through with this plan, to which the figure says that while this does allow them to exercise their right to challenge, it still goes against “the wishes of the Elder Gods”.  As such, he’s unable to get a clear mental outcome of the upcoming events.  If Shao Kahn emerges victorious, then he’ll practically become immortal and expand his rule like a God.  However, ultimate defeat will see him suffer forever in limbo.  Gorback allows Shang Tsung to live, but he wants to make sure that their victory is guaranteed.  As such, he offers another fierce four-armed fighter from his kingdom named Kintaro to join them.  Shao Kahn accepts him onto his side before he restores Shang Tsung’s youth.  However, he warns the sorcerer that he’ll be tortured for all eternity if he fails again.  Shao Kahn then tells him that before they offer their challenge, he wants his sorcerer to make their realm’s presence felt.  As such, he teams Shang Tsung up with not just Kintaro, but also Kitana, Mileena and Baraka before he sends the group out on their mission.  Back at the U.S. Special Forces base, Jax and his team receive a transmission from Sonya.  She tells them that she’s trapped within Outworld and that they must find either Johnny Cage or Liu Kang, since either figure can properly explain their entire situation.  She then reveals that she’s hiding out within the forest city of Shokan alongside their own enemy Kano before she tells her team to warn Johnny and Liu of the danger that they’re in.  Kano then says that their otherworldly enemies want to conquer their planet and that they should counter with lots of guns.  From there, the transmission gets cut off as Jax tells his team that they have to reach Cage in order to inform him of the impending danger.

We then shift over to the Honan Province in China as Kang returns to his Shaolin Temple.  However, he finds the building in ruins while the students were viciously slaughtered.  He then promises his fallen comrades that he’ll hunt down the fiends that were responsible for this before he’s then met upon by a familiar fighter named Kung Lao.  Liu tells his comrade that while he joined the White Lotus Society, he went out to compete in Shang Tsung’s tournament.  However, Kung tells him that this destruction was the result of his victory.  Kang rebuts by explaining that they’ve been training since they were young to protect a world that only sees their history as a myth.  Lao says that it’s obvious that Outworld forces attacked the temple and that he’ll gladly join him in their fight against said opposition.  Just then, a hover-jet arrives as Kung Lao recognizes it as property of the Lin Kuei.  A man then emerges and approaches them before he presents his business card, revealing that he’s Sub-Zero.  Liu wonders how that’s possible since he saw him get murdered by Scorpion, to which the man (who gets ultimately named Kuai Liang) explains that it was his older brother who suffered said fate, even describing him as “Lin Kuei’s finest” warrior who was becoming antiquated due to his stubborn refusal of using modern technology in his missions.  He then says that his clan detected some “gammatronic readings” within their area that indicated an opening portal.  Thanks to some surveillance photos that were taken, he discovers that Shang Tsung has emerged and that he’s going after Johnny Cage.  From there, all three figures decide to head out and prevent this assassination attempt.

Over at Karate Flick Pictures in Hollywood, Johnny is shooting a commercial for his own brand of cologne.  Suddenly, a portal opens behind him as Shang Tsung arrives with his Outworld army in order to kill him.  Over in a nearby lobby, Jax and Steve have also shown up in order to protect the action star.  Suddenly, Cage gets thrown through a nearby wall and shows up near them.

As Briggs begins to inform him of Sonya’s message, Shang Tsung shows up before he shoots a flaming skull from his hands.  Jax gets hit as the blast forces him back while Beran opens fires, but to no avail as they easily bounce off of Baraka.  Soon enough, the Tarkatan fiend gets sent after Johnny.  Fortunately, he’s able to retaliate with a fierce kick.  Meanwhile, Jackson is able to recover before he charges in and fights Kintaro.

Back with Shang Tsung, he tells Mileena to execute Steve while he has Kitana join forces with Baraka against Johnny.  As Briggs’ fight against Kintaro spills out into the parking lot, Sub-Zero flies in with his team.  He then tells a fellow ninja named Smoke (who’s flying the plane alongside Ermac) to fly around for two additional passes, since he plans on having Liu and Kung jump out on the first pass while he’ll make a surprise attack during the second.  From there, they set their plan into action as Lao throws his razor-tipped hat at Kintaro before he and Kang show up to help Jax.  Despite being outnumbered, Shang Tsung isn’t bothered by it as he begins to announce his “proposition”.

Unbeknownst to him, Sub-Zero has jumped down in order to unleash a surprise attack.  However, he’s suddenly smacked away as it’s revealed that Reptile was there to discreetly protect the fiendish sorcerer.  Just then, the green-clad ninja gets struck by a familiar rope-and-kunai as Scorpion drags him in for a fierce uppercut.  The specter then says that while he did slay the fighter who originally killed him, he’s returned in order to protect his former foe’s brother.  Afterwards, Raiden shows up and stops this scuffle before he tells Shang Tsung that this fight is taking place outside of tournament regulation.  The Thunder God then says that he assumes that Shao Kahn has helped the fiendish sorcerer regain his ability to open dimensional portals.  From there, Raiden orders Shang Tsung to state his business, to which the sinister spellcaster says that he’s exercising his right to challenge and that he wants this group of Earth-based warriors to take part in a contest that Shao Kahn will be hosting.  He then tells them to either accept the offer or forfeit before he and his forces teleport back to Outworld.  Even though Liu Kang says that he’s already won and asks what would happen if they declined their tournament offer, Raiden tells him that he must defend his title since refusing to do so would weaken the look of his home realm to the Elder Gods and would also “unbalance the furies”.  He then tells Jax, Kung Lao & Sub-Zero that their entries into the tournament was preordained by the Elder Gods and that their participation would strengthen Earthrealm’s chances of winning.  Briggs is unsure about all of this and wants to ask his partner Steve, but Johnny remerges and tells him that Beran was murdered.  And so, the comic ends with the whole group accepting the offer as Raiden tells them to prepare for battle over in Outworld.

We now leave the era of mail orders behind and venture into our permanent residence that consists of books that you could buy in actual comic stores.  As for the first business to pick up the franchise’s comic license, we have the former Calabasas, California-based company called Malibu Comics.  Formed in 1986, they published several notable books throughout their existence, but none more noteworthy than their line of comics set within the Ultraverse.  Not only that, but they helped published Image Comics’ initial books during that company’s early days.  During the end of their existence, their partnership with Marvel Comics would ultimately see the latter acquire them in 1994.  As for how they handled the Mortal Kombat comics license, it turns out that they were given liberties and freedoms in order to create their own arcs & characters for their unique story lines.

First up for their run with the property, we have “Mortal Kombat: Blood & Thunder”.  Consisting of seven issues that came out during the second half of 1994 and were all written by Charles Marshall (while penciling duties were helmed by Patrick Rolo, except for Issue #5 where it was handled by Kiki Chansomone), let’s begin our harrowing venture and see how this company handles the franchise.

For Issue #0, we actually have four short stories that’re all written by Charles Marshall and penciled by Patrick Rolo.  First up, we have “Light & Darkness”.  We open within the subterranean realm of Kuatan, which is a province within Outworld.  Goro is out hunting reptilian creatures and is about to feast on one when suddenly, Raiden (who’s name was spelled as Rayden, due to then-M.K. publisher Acclaim making that alteration in order to avoid a copyright lawsuit from Tecmo, since they had an arcade named called Raiden) appears and offers him to join his side of the conflict, so that he can be alongside Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade & Liu Kang and ultimately tear down Shang Tsung’s tyranny.  However, Goro refuses as he exclaims how he’s “a creature of darkness”.  As such, Raiden shoots some lightning at him and tells him that he’ll ultimately regret turning down this offer.  And so, the story ends with him saying that they’ll meet each other again before he disappears.

We then move on to our next story called “Kombatants” as our main seven fighters are on the wooden ship that’s taking them to the island that the fateful tournament is at.  Scorpion shows up back from the dead and attacks with a spiked ball & chain.  Sub-Zero (in particular, Bi-Han) deflects the attack with his wrist gauntlets as he exclaims that he personally killed his foe.  Hanzo tells him that he did, but his own body wasn’t completely finished off as he pulls his face off and reveals his flaming skull head.  He then shoots out some fire as Sub-Zero manages to dodge it before he uses his Ice Blast and freezes his adversary.  From there, he kicks Scorpion with enough force to completely shatter his whole body.  However, Hanzo reemerges in spectre form and says that he’ll get the last laugh, to which Bi-Han says that he’ll be ready for that fateful moment.  The rest of the core fighters are in stunned amazement over Scorpion’s otherworldly figure, to which Raiden says that he’s “too ashamed” to rest within his clan’s “eternal victory hall” until he finally enacts his revenge.  And so, the tale ends with him telling Hanzo to fight honorably & gloriously within the upcoming tournament, yet he warns the spectre that his victory will be fleeting and death will be waiting for him.

Next up, we have “Mortal Fear” as the narration describes Goro as a half-human dragon who’s been around for two millenniums and has defended his title of Mortal Kombat champion for the prior five centuries, ever since he triumphed over a monk from the Great Order of Light named the Great Kung Lao.  The tale begins with him asking his master whom he should destroy, to which Shang Tsung compliments him and mentions that with the combined effort of his might & his own guards, no one will be able to break into his private fortress.  The evil sorcerer then says that he is aware of the seven core fighters who could potentially pose a threat to his scheme, yet only brushes them off as he only sees the mission as their uniting bond.  He then goes over all seven fighters and offers what he knows about them.  With Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung describes him as someone who was trained by several of the world’s great masters, yet wastes his talents in action movies.  For Kano, he’s a mercenary who works within the respectfully-feared group of criminals called the Black Dragon.  He then moves on to Sonya Blade, who’s a gifted warrior from America and is a member of the U.S. Special Forces.  As for Sub-Zero, Shang admits that he doesn’t know too much about the chilling figure.  However, he does recognize him through his uniform that he’s a member of the Lin Kuei.  He then says that Liu Kang used to belong to the White Lotus Society and that he continually represents “the interests and philosophies of the Order of Light”.  Tsung then talks about Scorpion and while he doesn’t know the fighter’s name or origin, he senses that this figure isn’t truly alive, yet “very deadly”.  Finally, he talks about Raiden and that while the Thunder God is able to personally back his own champions, he’s not allowed to take part in the tournament due to his status.  From there, the story ends with Shang Tsung telling Goro that while all seven of those fighters have their own reasons for stopping him, they still have to go through his personal guards.  From there, they would have to go up against Goro before they could finally face the fiendish sorcerer himself.

From there, we’ve reached the final tale of the issue called “Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea”.  As the familiar wooden boat makes its way to Shang Tsung’s island, the narration begins to delve into our featured fighters, starting with Lt. Sonya Blade.  As she thinks to herself how she’s unsure if her call for back-up was received yet is still determined to bring Kano down, this U.S. Special Forces leader also mentally mentions that her adversary is somewhere on the boat and that she intends on tracking him down, especially since she’s very comfortable with her pursuit.  We then shift over to Liu Kang who thinks to himself about how he’s heard of this tournament throughout his life, yet never thought it was real. The narration says that he’s returned from America to fight in this contest for the Temple of Light.  However, he’s not the only representative to embark on this journey.  It turns out that a pair of twin monks named Sing and Sang were also assigned to this task, especially since they can merge together and become a unified fighter named Siang.  While Liu knows that the Temple of Light thinks that this two-for-one fighter is their best shot at reclaiming the title for them, Kang intends to prove them all wrong.  Moving on, we have the opposing ninjas in Sub-Zero and Scorpion.  Even though Bi-Han managed to kill his foe two years ago, Hanzo wasn’t entirely finished off.  As such, the fire spectre is seeking vicious revenge.  From there, the narration mentions that Sub-Zero’s clan called the Lin Kuei wouldn’t approve of his nagging fear, but the icy ninja is constantly wondering how he could possible defeat a ghost.  From there, we move over to Johnny Cage who’s then revealed to be the narrator of this entry.  Even though he’s a highly-successful martial arts movie star, the populace isn’t convinced that he’s a natural fighter outside of his films.  Against his P.R. team’s wishes, he intends to use this tournament as a means to solidify himself as a legit combatant.

He then briefly narrates about the featured Black Dragon member named Kano and while he does mention Sonya again, Johnny then talks about his unsureness about the two biggest adversaries of this whole competition: Goro & Shang Tsung.  Even though he’s faced several opponents over the years and has even sensed their fears, Cage is certain that he won’t be sensing much of that from the other fighters aside from his own.  Finally, he talks about the Thunder God named Raiden.  While this mighty being isn’t allowed to compete due to his status, he will be aiding Johnny, Sonya & Liu during their fights.  Cage then narrates how Raiden was assigned by his fellow Elder Gods to tear down Shang Tsung’s treachery.  From there, the comic ends with how things are about to get hectic until there’s only one person remaining as the ultimate victor, to which the reader is given the invitation to continue with Malibu Comics’ upcoming series.

The main series officially begins with Goro criticizing a group of guards for getting lax in their duties.  As such, he punishes them by beating them to death.  From there, Shang Tsung comes in and praises him for his ill-mannered behavior before he mentions that he’s getting close to a breakthrough with a book called the Tao Te Zhan.  While he’s almost able to open it, he’s going to put that project on hold due to the upcoming tournament.

We then shift over to Hong Kong as the familiar ship is letting its combatants get on board.  Among those is Johnny whose representatives don’t approve of him taking part in this contest.  However, Cage is too determined to back down and decides to go through with it.  We then cut to a short time later within the city as Kano is getting pursued by Sonya and her Special Forces team.  Suddenly, the fiend turns his motorcycle around and decides to drive right towards the agents.  To their surprise however, Kano drives his motorbike onto the van as he drives over his pursuers.  From there, he reaches the dock and jumps towards the ship as he manages to reach the craft and climb on.  Sonya and her partner named Sparky are amazed by how their foe got away before they decide to go after him on a speedboat while also calling for back-up.

Meanwhile, an occupant upon the boat does some pondering as Liu thinks back to his last moment at the Temple of the Order of Light.  He tells his master that despite the group having already sent someone to the tournament, he was also invited and promises to bring honor back to them.  Master Wu then reminds him of their tournament representative as Sing & Sang have already proven themselves worthy, especially with their ability to come together and become Siang.  Fortunately, Wu does see a certain spark within Kang’s eyes and decides to let him compete.  We then shift back to the present as Liu intends to live up to that promising piece of faith.  Suddenly, he hears a nearby scuffle taking place as he leaps in to investigate.

It turns out that Kano has gotten into a fight with Johnny as Kang calls the crook out for getting the rest of the fighters to gang up on Cage.  Fortunately, this gives Johnny the recovery time that he needed in order to strike back.  Liu also joins in on the fracas as they ultimately defeat all of the opposing fighters.  In the end, Cage knocks Kano out with a swift kick to his face.

Unbeknownst to them, they’re being watched by a pair of Lin Kuei ninjas named Sub-Zero and Hydro.  Bi-Han once again feels that certain feeling within his throat as a sign that a familiar foe is returning.  Suddenly, Hydro gets possessed by Scorpion and reminds him of the two-year anniversary that his icy foe killed him.  Hanzo then says that he’s been denied his right to enter his clan’s victory hall unless he gets revenge for his own demise.  Sub-Zero asks how he could possibly defeat a spectre, to which Scorpion says that it’s possible to take him down since if he loses, then his soul will wind up in “oblivion”.  However, it’s a risk he’s willing to take in order to get his revenge.  He then attempts to shoot some unholy fire at him, but he relinquished his hold upon Hydro during said time as Bi-Han gets saved by his teammate.  Hanzo then tells his foe that he’s lucky that he’s risking himself to get revenge, since he’ll do whatever it takes to deliver the fatal blow.  From there, he disappears as Hydro uses his water power to extinguish the fire.  Shortly after Sub-Zero says that he shouldn’t have shown his fear to Scorpion, he’s suddenly approached by Sparky as he retaliates with his freeze power.  Fortunately, Sonya is able to shield her teammate from the attack before she asks the ninjas where she can find Kano.  However, Bi-Han informs her that his clan doesn’t have to cooperate with anyone as the picture gets destroyed.  Just as the two sides are about to come to blows, they hear the announcement that land has been spotted.

Ultimately, they arrive at Shang Tsung’s island as the fiendish sorcerer welcomes the fighters to his upcoming tournament.  From there, he introduces Goro to them, as well as his accomplishments.  Sonya then steps in and says that she’s looking for Kano, but Shang Tsung tells her that America has no jurisdiction here.  However, he will let her stay if she agrees to take part in the tournament.  Following his speech, he leads the fighters to their morning meal.  Johnny asks if every single participant is here, yet Shang Tsung says that’s not the case quite yet.  From there, Issue 1 ends with Raiden arriving to help tip the balance within the upcoming tournament.

Issue 2 opens with Liu successfully testing his might upon several stones before Goro responds by smashing through his own pile of rocks while taunting him.  Johnny says that they’re not afraid of him, forcing Kang to reign him in.  From there, a guard informs Goro that he’s required to be at the arena for an upcoming match.

It turns out that the tournament’s first match-up has the U.S. Special Forces agent named Lance a.k.a. Sparky going up against Kano.  Their fight gets fierce as Sparky uses his retractable bionic arms to grab his foe and deliver a powerful shock.  He then tells Kano to get back up and that once he’s done with him, he’ll be gunning for the rest of the Black Dragon members.  However, Kano responds with a fierce strike before he finishes his adversary with a fatality and rips Sparky’s heart out of his chest.

Sonya gets furious at her prime suspect, to the point where she doesn’t even care about bringing him back alive anymore and is now intent on killing him.  She proceeds to shoot some pink ring energy from her gauntlets before she goes into a handstand grapple and throws him to the ground with her legs.  The guards then try to break it up, yet she’s able to fight them off.  However, she’s ultimately caught by Goro and gets taken to a place for “uncooperative guests”.

Over on another part of the island, Sub-Zero finds himself up against the six-armed ruler of the Outworld province of Katala named Grum.  Bi-Han proceeds to make quick work of him by freezing him before kicking him in the face hard enough to break his neck.  Afterwards, Goro tells him that Grum was a friend of his and that he was looking forward to besting him in the tournament, but he’ll settle for the frosty ninja instead.  We then cut to a short time later as Sonya is imprisoned alongside Hydro, Sing and Sang.  Even when the latter two come together to form Siang, they’re unable to break free from their reinforced shackles.

Over in Shang Tsung’s private quarters, he looks over the Tao Te Zhan and mentions that even though the Order of Light has cast a powerful protection spell onto it, he intends to find out how to undo it.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by Raiden who tells him that even though he’s not allowed to fight in the tournament, he still intends to play some part in the overall contest, even though he heard a rumor about it getting halted.  Shang Tsung then brings up the Tao Te Zhan as Raiden recognizes it as “an object of insurmountable power” that hasn’t been seen on Earth for several centuries.  Shang Tsung then says that it contains the power that he’ll intend on getting in order to secure Outworld’s 10th-straight victory over Earthrealm and allow his master Shao Kahn to expand his empire into the realm.  Raiden then promises the foul sorcerer that no matter what he’s planning, he’ll make sure to stand against him.

Meanwhile within another part of the palace, Johnny and Liu are looking to bust Sing & Sang out.  However, they’re met upon by Hydro (Somehow, he escaped?) who’s trying to find Bi-Han.  The ninja manages to blast Kang with his water-based attack, yet Cage takes him down with a fierce kick.  Unfortunately, they get swarmed by the guards as Johnny wants to take them on, yet Liu tells him to refrain since they’re still “guests”.  Meanwhile, Kano has regained consciousness and is snooping around the palace since he heard rumors that it was filled with various treasures.  He soon finds Shang Tsung who’s managed to lift the protection spell from the Tao Te Zhan.  Now, all that stands between him and new power is for him to correctly answer seven riddles.  As such, he hides the book inside a box and heads out to put the tournament on hold in order to fulfill this task.  After the sorcerer takes his leave, Kano comes in and retrieves it for himself.  He then looks for a safe place to hide in order to properly examine it before he arrives in a room that he thinks is full of noisy machinery.  However, it turns out to be Goro who was sleeping and has now woken up.  Kano tries to attack him, but Goro knocks him out with a fierce backhand before he drags him away for him to properly deal with at a later time.

Later, he meets up with Shang Tsung who informs him that he finally managed to open the Tao Te Zhan.  However, it’s now missing as he orders his four-armed ally to find whoever took it.  And so, Issue 2 ends with our main fighters captured and talking to each other.  Suddenly, Sub-Zero gets a nervous chill as he senses Scorpion returning.

Issue 3 begins with Hanzo arriving in the holding cell and attacking Bi-Han with his spiked ball on a rope.  Johnny demands to know who this guy is, to which Scorpion describes himself as “the Spirit of Retribution”.  Sub-Zero is eager to fight his foe, while Hydro wants to slay their fellow prisoners.  Fortunately, Bi-Han reminds him that the Lin Kuei don’t commit this kind of act as they proceed to free their fellow fighters.  Just as Hanzo vanishes, the group gets confronted by Goro as he now blocks their lone exit.

Over within his private quarters, Shang Tsung gets contacted by Shao Kahn.  The evil emperor is aware that the tournament has been put on hold and that his magic-based ally has made some initial progress with the Tao Te Zhan, but he wants to know when the portal to Earthrealm can finally be open.  Shang tells him that there’s some complications, to which Shao Kahn tells him to get them solved fairly soon.  Tsung then shatters his globe as he expresses his dissatisfaction towards serving Shao Kahn.  He says that even though his emperor wants him to resume the tournament, he’s more interested in recovering the Tao Te Zhan in order to acquire the vast power that would let him become even more powerful than Shao Kahn himself.

Back in the dungeon, Goro is eager to fight our group of combatants.  However, most of them are nervous for one reason or another.  Ultimately, Sing & Sang decide to engage their foe as they come together and become Siang.  From there, the unified monk fights the towering beast.  Unfortunately, Goro grabs his arms and rips the two warriors from each other before he fatally slams their heads together.  Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes down near him as Raiden makes his presence known.

With the knowledge of Goro turning down the offer to join the side of light still fresh in his mind, the Thunder God attacks him with some lightning.  Goro manages to lunge at him, but Raiden teleports out of the way before he reengages the four-armed foe.  During the scuffle, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, Kano & Scorpion ponder about their recent events.  Ultimately, all of them (with the exception of Kano) decide to gang up on Goro.

Despite Liu delivering a fierce kick followed by Bi-Han encasing him within his frost power, Goro breaks free before he viciously beats up every last opposing fighter.  Shang Tsung was watching this from afar as he praises his Shokan warrior.  Just as he tells his master to take the fallen fighters as his tributes, Goro suddenly becomes encased within a glowing light before he completely vanishes.  As the beaten group gets to their feet, even they’re surprised by this turn of events.  Raiden says that he wasn’t behind Goro’s complete disappearance before he blasts a hole open and carries his combatants out via the wind.  Before he heads out, he warns Shang Tsung that his day of reckoning is coming.

And so, Issue 3 ends with the evil sorcerer swearing to find the Thunder God and his fighters before he claims their souls as his own.

Issue 4 opens with the reveal that Raiden has escaped with our main fighters into Outworld.  However, they wound up scattered upon entering the wicked realm.  While the Thunder God has ended up with Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage is with Sonya Blade and Liu Kang finds himself alongside Kano.  Over within the wastelands, Bi-Han is specifically looking for Hydro.  Suddenly, he feels the intense burning in his throat as he senses that Scorpion is nearby.  As such, both of them head out to investigate.  Meanwhile, Hanzo isn’t too far from them as he’s caught up to Hydro and wants him to beg for mercy.  Once the aquatic ninja refuses, Scorpion proceeds to launch his spiked ball and rope at him.  Hydro tries to counter with his water power, but the projectile goes right through his attack and fatally strikes him.  From there, Hanzo reveals his flaming skull head before he slays his foe.

He then vows to tear the Lin Kuei down before he ultimately kills Sub-Zero.  Suddenly, he gets attacked by Raiden before Bi-Han tells him that this is his fight.  He then courageously decides to fight the opposing spectre as he freezes him.  He then tells Scorpion that he has to become solid if he’s able to kill him before he leaps down and shatters his foe’s frozen body with a fierce kick.  However, Scorpion’s soul is still safe before he declares that they’ll fight again someday.  Sub-Zero tells him that he’ll always be ready for him, to which Raiden says that he’ll protect the icy ninja as well.  From there, Hanzo says that he’s underestimated his adversary and will need more power to enact his revenge, to which he knows where to go get it.  Back on Shang Tsung’s island on Earthrealm, two goons decide to steal from the evil sorcerer’s palace, especially since they heard that Goro disappeared.  However, they’re soon met upon by the fierce Shokan prince as he easily beats them up.  Afterwards, it’s revealed that Shang Tsung had transformed into him in order to prevent the other fighters from getting overly-confident.  He then says that while he hates that he lost his prisoners, the Tao Te Zhan and his four-armed comrade, he intends on being patient since he already has a search party looking for Goro.

Back in Outworld, Johnny comes across a village as he decides to go check it out.  Suddenly, he’s approached by a pair of natives who manage to grab him.  Fortunately, he’s able to fend them off with his fighting skills.  However, he’s then met upon by more natives who’re lead by a woman who looks exactly like Sonya, but instead called herself Queen Aynos as she looks to make him pay for breaking her village laws.  Cage thinks that she’s actually Lt. Blade and gives her a kiss, but she kicks him down and now intends on taking his life for his act of “indiscretion”.  Just as she’s about to stab him with a spear, she gets hit by a rock as the actual Sonya shows up and proceeds to fight her.

Lt. Blade is able to easily beat her royal lookalike up, but the natives manage to subdue both her and Johnny.  Aynos then gets up and prepares to finish them off with a fatality called the Kiss of Death.  Fortunately, they manage to break free and evade the harmful projectile.  From there, they team up and knock Aynos out with their own kicks.  Afterwards, she figures out that they’re not on either Shang Tsung’s island or even on Earthrealm.  From there, Cage makes a witty comment towards her as she puts up with it while they head out.

Meanwhile within the Living Forest, Liu and Kano have made a campfire.  Kano returns with some firewood as they each manage to break it up into smaller pieces.  Suddenly, Kang discovers & recognizes the Tao Te Zhan nearby as Kano comes in and reclaims it for himself.  Fortunately, Liu kicks him and gets the book back as he says that it belongs to the Order of Light since it was stolen from them.  Kano says that he’s unable to open it past the first page, to which Kang discovers the first riddle on it: “You may swallow me, but I may swallow you”, to which he correctly answers with “Water” as another section of the book opens up.  Liu then wonders who could’ve opened the book in the first place, since it was protected by a spell that prevented it from being open.  Kano says that they could possibly solve the entire thing before he thinks to himself on how he’ll let Kang do all the work before he claims the ultimate power for himself.  Suddenly, the book gets snatched out of their hands by a familiar spiked ball and rope as Issue 4 ends with Scorpion claiming that he’ll possess the ultimate power that lies within it.

Following a brief recap of both Raiden and Hanzo, Issue 5 picks up where the last part left off.    Kano and Liu attempt to retrieve the book from him, but Scorpion ends up teleporting away.  We then shift ahead later that day as he gets several miles away before he reads over the Tao Te Zhan from a cliffside spot.  From there, he reads the second riddle: “Ten men’s length, Ten men’s strength.  Ten men can’t tear it, yet a little boy walks off with it”.  However, he can’t concentrate due to his mind thinking back to the day of his initial death at the chilling hands of Sub-Zero.  In anger, he takes out his spiked ball & rope and swears to get back at him.

Fortunately for him, it makes him realize that the answer to the second riddle is “Rope”.  Shortly after the book accepts his answer and his gets one step closer to absolute power, Hanzo gets struck by lightning as Raiden arrives to intervene.  After he teleports away from Scorpion’s spiked ball, he then pops up behind the spectre and blasts him through the chest with his thunderbolts.  Hanzo wearily tries to reclaim the Tao Te Zhan, but Raiden uses the winds of a summoned storm to blow it away from him and tells him that it’s unleashed dire consequences every time that it’s been open.

He goes on to say that mankind had foolishly tried to control the book’s power to no avail.  As such, he’s decided to cast it into a place where no one can find it as he sends it down the canyon.  Unbeknownst to him, it gets discovered by Johnny and Sonya.  From there, they read its third riddle: “What is it that overcomes you and you never see it?”.  With the inclement weather still looming, she tells him that they must find a proper shelter.  We then shift ahead a short time later as they hold up in a cave before they ponder about the answer to the riddle.  With both of them being stumped, she starts feeling tired and decides to rest.

Thankfully, her drowsy action let’s him realize that the answer is “Sleep” as the book glows with his correct response.  Just as look at the Tao Te Zhan in amazement, they’re suddenly met upon by Sub-Zero who looks to claim it for himself.  Cage and Lt. Blade do fight him off, but he ultimately defeats them as he puts them in a temporary freeze before he takes the book and runs off.

Sometime later after he’s gotten many miles away from them, Bi-Han clears his mind and prepares to take on the fourth riddle as it reads: “What bridge is built without any stone or wood?”.  From there, he easily answers with “Ice” as the Tao Te Zhan accepts his correct answer and glows, getting him one step closer to its ultimate power.

Back on his island within Earthrealm, Shang Tsung is met upon by three otherworldly fighters who demand to know why the tournament has been put on hold.  Not only that, but they mention the growing rumor that Goro had disappeared.  The fiendish sorcerer tells them that they were only invited to be “fodder for the real warriors”, yet he’ll gladly take them on.  They charge right at him, yet he easily obliterates them with a series of flaming skull projectiles.  From there, the scene ends with him mentioning that servants will locate his Shokan warrior and his book before he ultimately becomes a supreme sorcerer.

Back within Outworld’s Living Forest, Kang is in the middle of some meditation.  Suddenly, Kano runs back in and warns him that some mutants are approaching them.  The Shaolin warrior readies himself before they’re met upon by the vast number of mutants that have “flourished” under Shao Kahn’s rule.  With no other choice, Liu and Kano join forces as they ultimately put the opposing individuals down.

Afterwards, Kang suspects that something is up as he mentions that their foes didn’t put as strong of a fight as he thought they would.  Suddenly, Kano confirms it as he stabs him in the back and explains that he met those mutants several hours ago, befriending them in the process.  From there, he heads out to go retrieve the Tao Te Zhan while Liu wearily passes out as he feels his life slipping away.  He then dreams of the Great Kung Lao, who’s combination of speed, strength and endurance made him the Order of Light’s greatest champion.  Unfortunately, he was no match for Goro who  stole his life within a brutal beatdown.  While Kang’s life slowly slips away, he suddenly hears a voice that tells him to follow him away from death’s door.  He’s then approached by a figure who tells him that it’s not his time to die before he picks the weary fighter up and tells him that he’s in good hands, with Issue 5 ending on the reveal that it’s another Shaolin warrior named Kung Lao.

Issue 6 begins with Kano and his mutant gang sneaking up on Sub-Zero so that he can retrieve the Tao Te Zhan.  He manages to sneak up to the icy ninja and hit him, but it turns out that he attacked his ice clone and ends up frozen.  Bi-Han then emerges and mentions that he managed to solve the fifth riddle (albeit off-panel) before he proceeds to fight the entire mutant armada.  He manages to take down every last otherworldly goon, but his victory gets cut short as Kano gets freed from his frozen state and hits Sub-Zero on the head, causing the ninja to get knocked out.  From there, he reclaims the book in preparation to solve its last two riddles.

Suddenly, he’s met upon by Sonya who’s looking to not bring him into custody, but instead murder him.  From there, she proceeds to beat him into a bloody pulp.

Meanwhile in the Living Forest, Liu is alive and resting up as he talks to his rescuer.  As Kung Lao presents him with a bitter-tasting medicine to drink, he presents himself as he says that his name means a lot to the Order of Light.  Kang realizes that it’s the same name as the monk who was the Mortal Kombat champion that fell to Goro, to which Kung Lao says that he’s the sole remaining descendant.  Liu then asks if the Order of Light is aware of him, to which Kung Lao says that they are, but he’s not an active member.  After all, he’s spent his whole life traveling around the world and has seen & learned a lot from his journeys.  Kang tells him that he should’ve stayed with the Order, yet Kung mentions to him that he’s been a worthy representative to the group.  Liu then informs him that Siang was recently bested by Goro, yet Lao tells him that he’s always been the Order’s best champion.  From there, he tells Kang to rest up before he heads out to get more fire wood.

Back with Bi-Han, he climbs up a cliff while he chastises himself for getting knocked out so easily.  Once he reaches the top, he sees Kano getting beaten by Lt. Blade before he sees the Tao Te Zhan lying nearby.  Just as he picks it up, he’s soon attacked by Johnny as they proceed to fight each other.  While Cage tries to distract him with his witty banter, Sub-Zero combines his Ice power with his physical skills in order to keep the action star at bay.  Ultimately, the fight ends with Johnny besting Bi-Han via a fierce jump kick.

Afterwards, he picks up the Tao Te Zhan and proceeds to read off the sixth riddle: “What is it that is higher than a house, and yet seems much lesser than a mouse?”, to which he recognizes the answer as “Star”.  From there, he prepares to answer the final riddle.  Suddenly, Raiden shows up and tries to warn him against his foolish attempt to harness the power that lies within said book.  Unfortunately, Cage isn’t willing to comply and tells him that he can only take it away from him by force.  Raiden does shoot lightning in front of him before Johnny remembers that the Thunder God is forbidden from interfering as he decides to read the last riddle.  Raiden says that even though he can’t take the Tao Te Zhan by force, he still warns Cage that the power inside the book won’t be under his control and that it’ll control him.  The Thunder God then brings up how Johnny wants to prove to the world that he’s a genuine fighter, yet he’s willing to gain power through an artificial mean.  After being told that the only way for him to become a champion is to be himself, Cage sees the error of his way and gives the Tao Te Zhan to Raiden in order for it to be kept out of mankind’s hands.

Back on his Earthrealm-based island, Shang Tsung is once again contacted by Shao Kahn who informs him that he’s grown impatient by the tournament’s lengthy delay.  Shang Tsung says that the Tao Te Zhan & some key fighters have gone missing.  Not only that, he’s unable to get them back and that he also needs Goro to be found.  As such, Shao Kahn realizes that he must provide some help in order for this tournament to resume.  As such, he helps him with his request, but warns the fiendish sorcerer to not fail.  From there, a portal opens up before it suddenly gets breeched.  And so, the series ends with not only our main fighters getting brought back, but a few other combatants as well.

From there, we continue this retrospective by looking at the final chapter for this initial tale, completely set within the pages of “Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition”.  So with both Marshall & Rolo in charge of the writing and the pencil work, what kind of climactic clash do these two men have in store for us?  Let’s get in the ring and find out.

We open with Johnny having just been tossed out of the main chamber and having also slammed into a wall.  While he mentions how this was the first time that he can recall ever getting hit and especially that hard, he manages to flip back onto his feet.  As he recalls every major event that’s happened thus far during this excursion, he makes his way back towards the central room.

Upon his reentry, every single combatant is fighting each other.  In the narration,  it’s revealed that they were all in a stunning calm with a little murmuring amongst them, but Kano sparked this whole scuffle with a simple shove as the whole thing erupted into a full-blown fracas.

We then focus on a fight between Jax and Sub-Zero as Jackson kicks the ninja to the ground.  Bi-Han responds by freezing him in place before delivering a fierce kick to his face.  Despite the hit, Briggs wants him to do it again, to which Sub-Zero complies.  To his surprise however, Jax is able to break free before he uses his Ground Smash attack to disorient his opponent.  From there, he grabs Bi-Han and delivers a vicious uppercut.

Meanwhile in another part of the room, Sonya is trying to find Kano so that she can attack him.  However, she’s soon met upon by Mileena who slashes her back with a sai.  She then tells Lt. Blade that she’s “the mistress of misery” and the “daughter of destruction”  who will personally deliver her decapitated head to her emperor before she throws a sai at her.  Fortunately, Sonya managed to catch it before she demands to know about her “Emperor”.  Mileena simply says that she’s the true daughter of Shao Kahn and that his armies will lay waste to her world before she attacks with a jump kick.  Lt. Blade is then able to retaliate with a series of well-placed hits as she tells her foe that she’s not worried and that the U.S. Special Forces could take care of him.  Mileena says that she’ll dearly pay for this beatdown, yet Sonya knocks her out with a swift kick.

Meanwhile, Shang Tsung is observing the whole ordeal from the second floor.  He then senses the Tao Te Zhan within the room before he wonders where Goro was sent to.  From there, he spots Raiden who’s electrocuting Baraka.  Shang Tsung takes advantage of this distraction by firing a few flaming skulls as they blast the Thunder God, thus allowing him to claim the book for himself.

Back on the main level, Scorpion comes across the defeated Sub-Zero and says that while he would’ve preferred to get his vengeance following a one-on-one fight, he decides to just execute his foe right there.  Suddenly, he gets hits by a razor-sharp fan as Kitana calls him out for his dishonorable act.  He tells her that she’s unaware of whom she’s going up against, since he’s returned from the dead.  She tells him that she’s lived for 10,000 years underneath Shao Kahn’s rule and there were loads of time when she wished for a sweet release from this horrid situation.  As such, she says that death isn’t the worst thing before she kicks him.  Hanzo then reveals his flaming skull head and shoots some fire towards her, yet she manages to evade the intense flames before she throws one of her fans through his chest.  With his defeat, he vanishes back to the NetherRealm.  While she stands triumphant, the narration says that while Shao Kahn has told her that she’s his daughter, her heart says otherwise and that there will come a day when she will discover that truth.

Over in another part of the room, Cage is fighting Baraka as he finds himself caught between his retractable blades.  He manages to slip out by doing the splits and performing a groin punch, but it doesn’t affect the Tarkatan fighter.  From there, the brawl makes its way to the second level before it distracts Shang Tsung from trying to solve the final riddle.  He yells at them to be quiet and even calls them “createns”, yet this irritates both Baraka and Johnny.

As such, they respond by tossing the fiendish sorcerer off as he also loses possession of the Tao Te Zhan.  As it lands next to him, Kano manages to retrieve it as he looks forward to being the one who solves the last riddle.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by Liu who’s looking to get back at him for his literal backstabbing act.  Despite his best effort, Kang is still weary from his near-death experience as Kano easily beats him up before he prepares to murder him and then take his Black Dragon gang out to slaughter the Order of Light.  Fortunately, he’s met upon by Kung Lao who kicks him to the ground.  Unfortunately, Kano still manages to fight dirty as he grabs some salt and throws it into opponent’s eyes before he delivers a harsh punch that able to break Kung Lao’s ribs.

As he wearily lies the ground, the roughed-up Shaolin Monk feels the pain of defeat, as well those from his ancestor.  Not to mention, he also feels the weight of his promise to Liu.  Thankfully, he summons some inner strength and retaliates against Kano.  During this, Kang discovers the Tao Te Zhan as he hopes to use it in order to help him out.   Just as he opens the book, his mind then wanders back to his youthful time within the Temple of the Order of Light.  Within that past moment, Master Wu tells his fellow Monks that their strength and skill isn’t what truly matters, but that their inner belief is what will truly help them smash the ruby.  Suddenly, he notices someone shattering it as he discovers that it was Liu.  He then asks the young warrior how he was able to do that after none of his students could accomplish said feat, to which Kang says that he believes in himself and that it’s what he needs to succeed.

With that realization, he tosses the book away and decides to rely on his inner strength.  Unbeknownst to him, Reptile has managed to sneak his way in as he acquires the Tao Te Zhan before returning it to Shang Tsung.  Shortly afterwards however, they’re met up by Raiden who aims to stop them.

Not wanting to see his plans go up in smoke, the fiendish sorcerer tries to distract him with some flaming skulls.  From there, he proceeds to read the final riddle: “What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?”.  Before he can attempt to give an answer, he gets struck by the Thunder God as they proceed to tussle.  From there, a certain figure picks up the book and answers with “Your Name” as it’s revealed to be Goro who’s returned from his mini-series.

From there, the combatants stop their fights as they discover what’s just happened.  With the Shokan prince having just solved the last riddle, the Tao Te Zhan proceeds to bestow him with even greater power.  With it now combined with his already fierce might, he proceeds to easily defeat every single fighter that tries to oppose him.  With his champion potentially proving to be too much for him, Shang Tsung asks for Raiden’s help in taking Goro down.  As such, they reluctantly join forces as they combine their own powers and ultimately strip Goro of his newly-acquired power, forcing it to be sealed back into the Tao Te Zhan.

With the whole ordeal over, we then shift ahead to early the next day as our group of Earthrealm heroes sail back towards the main land, especially with Kano being taken away into Special Forces’ custody.  Liu Kang and Kung Lao express their own eagerness to return to the Temple of the Order of Light, while Sonya asks Cage if he’s upset that he didn’t win the tournament.  He assures her that there will be another one and that he’ll return to it someday.  Back on his island, the narrative ends with Shang Tsung getting asked by Goro why he stripped his servant of the Tao Te Zhan’s power, to which the fiendish sorcerer says that he couldn’t take the risk.  Now that the book is under Raiden’s custody, they’ll begin planning for the return of their tournament.

Even though this initial storyline is done, there’s still a lingering thread that must be addressed.  In particular, what happened to our Shokan prince when he disappeared halfway through “Blood & Thunder” before popping back up in the “Tournament Edition”.  Thankfully, that would get answered within a three-issue mini-series called “Mortal Kombat: Goro, Prince Of Pain”.  While Marshall maintains his writer’s status for this venture, Roy Burdine is in charge of penciling duty for the first two issues before Chansamone takes over for the last part.  With all of that out of the way, let’s venture into this side-journey and find out what this four-armed figure was up to for a while.

We open on an Earthrealm city at night as two cops are out on patrol.  Suddenly, they get surprised as Goro appears in front of them, wishing harm on whoever was responsible for bringing him here.  The officers get out and aim their guns at him, but he proves his terrifying might by smashing their car.

He recalls everything that’s happened to him that involves the tournament and that it was halted by his master.  Even though seven particular fighters were interfering with the devious plans, Goro was still able to deliver a fierce beatdown upon them.  Just as he was about to finish them off, he was mysteriously teleported to Earthrealm.  Back with the current situation, the two cops aim their firearms at the Shokan prince and order him to stay back.  Suddenly, a crow named Rook flies in and surprisingly tells Goro that he’s come to offer some passage to him.  From there, it wipes the two officers out with its eye beams before telling the Shokan prince to follow him towards someone who can answer any questions that he’ll have.  We then cut to a short time later where Goro has been led to a landfill.  Rook then introduces him to his magical master named Zaggot.  Despite being told by Rook that he’s “most wise”, Goro doesn’t buy his ramblings and continues to grow impatient.

Back in Outworld, Shang Tsung has summoned four warriors and tells them that even though Goro has vanished, he senses that his Shokan warrior will arrive to this realm.  Because the fiendish sorcerer isn’t physically able to search this realm himself, he tells Reptile, Kitana, Mileena and Baraka to find his four-armed companion.  While Reptile mentions his loyalty to Shao Kahn, Baraka calls him a lap dog and that he serves no one.  This leads to them fighting each other as Reptile spits some acid onto his Tarkatan foe, to which Baraka attempts to strike back with his retractable blades.  Ultimately, Kitana has to step in and play peacemaker between them before she says that they should just find Goro.  Mileena agrees before she thinks to herself that she wants to discover the truth about her “sister”.  From there, the scene ends with Shang Tsung telling them to begin their search while also warning them that they’ll gravely suffer should they fail.

Meanwhile, a figure is walking through the Living Forest.  Just then, one of the sentient trees tells him that he’s not allowed to pass, even though the person says that he has no intention to deliver any harm.  However, the tree smacks him with his branch.  Despite the hit, the figure gets up and reveals himself as Kung Lao before he delivers a swift series of punches that completely chops the devious plant down.  From there, he takes his leave.

Back on Earthrealm, Goro is getting ready to attack Zaggot.  However, he magically warps the street around the four-armed fighter and subdues him.  Goro demands to know where he got his power, to which Zaggot simply says that he’s found it all around them.  Rook elaborates by mentioning that his master has lived for centuries.  Goro then asks Zaggot what he wants with him, to which he says that they’re going on a “road trip”, especially since he’s gotten all of the power that he could on Earth.  From there, he intends on teleporting them all to Outworld.  Goro says that it’s impossible, yet Zaggot says that he’s existed longer than either Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn and that he can “open every gateway”.  He even gets the Shokan warrior’s attention by mentioning that he can help him become Outworld’s king.

Meanwhile, Jax is out on the high seas as he searches for Sonya.  Suddenly, he rams his boat into some rocks as the sudden jolt causes him to fly off before he smacks into some other rocks and falls into the ocean.  Despite the vicious hits, he manages to recover and swim onto some land.  In the narration, he’s thinks about how Lt. Blade has helped him throughout his life.  Now, he soldiers on via his sense of duty towards the U.S. Special Forces and that he’ll fight on to take care of his job.  Meanwhile, Zaggot finally teleports himself, Rook and Goro to Outworld.  Zaggot intends for his foe to help him remake this realm in his image.  Thankfully, the Shokan prince says that he has no intention of helping him out.  From there, he smacks Zaggot with a street light.  Rook fires back with some eye beams, yet Goro is able to withstand the attack before he grabs the crow by its feet.  Zaggot recovers and tells him that he wasn’t brought here to rule the realm, but was instead brought along as inspiration, especially since he’s creating something.

He explains that he’s taken various traits from the seven main fighters, including both Shang Tsung & Goro himself, and placed them into a creation that he intends on using to wipe out everyone on Outworld before sending it to Earthrealm to do the same thing.  From there, Issue 1 ends with Goro being confronted by his creation called the Kombatant.

Issue 2 starts off with the Shokan prince pummeled into the ground.  From there, his mind wanders back to the series of events that led to him coming across Zaggot, Rock and Kombatant.  He then thinks about his recent fight as Goro gets surprised by the duplicated abilities that Kombatant was able to use, starting off with Sub-Zero’s freezing power.

After he receives a vicious kick, he’s then attacked by Scorpion’s familiar spear and rope as Kombatant drags him in and assaults him with the various skill sets of the other famous fighters, capping off with Raiden’s lightning blasts.  Meanwhile, Rook informs his master of his creation’s effectiveness.  However, Zaggot is far more observant towards some ants.  When Rook mentions that the Kombatant is beating Goro up, Zaggot says that the Shokan warrior must be destroyed, especially since he wants to bring on his own “age of desperation and chaos”.  Also, he wants Goro to suffer for refusing to join him.

Back on the familiar Earthrealm Island, Jax has made his way towards Shang Tsung before he says that he’s looking for Sonya.  However, the fiendish sorcerer simply tells him to eat before they talk.  A frustrated Mj. Briggs takes a bite out of some chicken before he demands to know where he can find Lt. Blade.  Shang Tsung falsely informs him that she was taken by Goro and fled with her into Outworld.  He then tell Jackson that he can teleport him there, to which Jax instantly accepts.  Shang Tsung then gives him a mystical stone and informs that once he finds Goro, he should touch the stone and speak the sorcerer’s name.  From there, he teleports Jax to Outworld as he takes pride in having another person help him find his Shokan warrior before he can properly resume his tournament.

Meanwhile, Goro wakes up as he learns from an otherworldly woman named Ms. Bishop that he’s been somehow teleported to a place called the Library of Order.  He’s then met upon by a man named Abacus, whom Goro mentions that he looks familiar.  The guy then reveals that Zaggot is his brother and that they’re both Gods.  Goro smacks some books off the shelf as he tells of his displeasure of being around “the blatherings of crazy men”.  However, Abacus tells him that he’s just disrupted several events within various worlds, which helped Zaggot gain even more power.  Goro then learns that the devious being “feeds off disruption and dissention” in order to get stronger, which makes him a “God of Chaos”.  As they had down the hallway, Goro learns that Abacus is the exact opposite of his brother as he’s all about facts, rules, life & laws and thus, he is the Lord of Order.  Goro asks if either brother is stronger than the other, to which Abacus says that it varies from day to day though in the past, there’s always been balance.  When Goro asks him why he doesn’t create his own champion like Zaggot did, Abacus says that it creates conflict, thus leading to more disruption for the chaotic God to feast on.  Because he’s aware of his brother’s unpredictable nature, he’s been making some plans.  As such, he shows off a weapon that he’ll have Goro use to properly combat Zaggot, to which the four-armed warrior grins with delight.

Over in the Living Forest, Kung Lao had found Liu Kang shortly after he was stabbed in the back by Kano.  As he carries his wounded friend to proper safety, he thinks about how he shares his name with someone who’s become infamous for losing to Goro before getting his soul sucked out by Shang Tsung.  From there, his family has had to live in shame.  As he lets Liu Kang rest up, Kung Lao thinks about how this is the one person who could finally turn things around for him.  After he creates a campfire for his comrade to recover next to, he narrates how he’s gotten to know where the healing herbs are located within Outworld from throughout his time of being banished here.  As such, he heads out to get the necessary herbs.

Meanwhile within Outworld’s wasted plains, Rook is following Kombatant who’s just taken out a hoard of mutants with ease.  When Rook asks his master where they can send their creation, Zaggot says that they can start shaking things up by going after Shao Kahn’s daughters.  From there, Kombatant finds himself up against Baraka, Kitana, Mileena and Reptile.  However, he easily hits the Tarkatan fiend and the female fighters away.  Reptile manages to evade the opposing strikes before he spits some acid onto his foe, yet Kombatant uses his own ice power to freeze the green ninja in place before knocking him out with a fierce punch.  Kitana & Mileena manage to recover and fight back.  During their scuffle, Kitana tells Kombatant that they’re “the daughters of Shao Kahn” and that they won’t be easily defeated.  From there, Mileena thinks about how their “father” doesn’t trust her fan-wielding family sibling as well.  As Kitana tries to lure him into a weakened position, Kombatant simply fires an electric blast to defeat the two ladies, all the while Zaggot and Rook observe this.

From there, Baraka jumps in and uses a retractable blade to slice off one of Kombatant’s arms.  However, it doesn’t remotely slow him down as he strikes back with a vicious kick.  Afterwards, Zaggot calls out to his brother and demands him to respond.  Suddenly, he and Rook are met upon by Goro as Issue 2 ends with the reveal that he’s weilding a powerful gun.

Issue 3 begins with Zaggot sending Kombatant (who somehow has his sliced off arm reattached, or it’s just a editing disconnect) after the Shokan prince.  Goro responds by firing his newly-acquired weapon at his foe, which ultimately destroys Kombatant once and for all.

Zaggot realizes that his brother Abacus was the one being who could’ve supplied Goro with that particular arsenal.  As such, he uses his magic to destroy the gun as he only sees the destruction of his creation as a minor setback.  He goes on to say that he’ll just have someone work for him.  As if on cue, Goro gets attacked by the easily mind-controlled Baraka who unleashes a barrage of cuts & slashes upon the Shokan prince.

Goro tries to tell the Tarkatan fighter that he’s being controlled, but Baraka is unable to break free as Zaggot orders him to deliver the finishing blow.  Just as the bladed fiend dives in, he’s suddenly kicked by Jax as Goro asks him where he came from.  Mj. Jackson says that he’s been looking for him and that “an old dude” has sent him.  Suddenly, he gets attacked by Baraka.  Thankfully, Jax is able to dodge his strikes before he counters with his own.  During their scuffle, Mileena, Kitana and Reptile observe the fight.  Mileena & Reptile want to jump in and help Baraka.  Fortunately, Kitana tells them their primary mission is to find Goro.  Reptile argues that Shao Kahn would want them to let Baraka suffer, to which Kitana tells him that he doesn’t speak for her father.  Mileena says that she now knows why their dad distrusts her, to which Reptile adds in his thought that Kitana is possibly afraid “of the human” while he’s not.

Meanwhile, Baraka starts to get the upper hand in his fight.  Fortunately, Mj. Briggs rectifies that with a Ground Pound before he takes advantage of his disoriented foe by taking him down with a vicious hit.  With Baraka defeated, Reptile manages to sneak his way towards Jax before he leaps in to attack.

Reptile then spits some acid and causes some harm to Mj. Jackson.  However, his assault gets interrupted as Goro grabs and hits him as he says that he’s interested in hearing from the guy who went through a lot just to find him.  Reptile then says that he’s made a mistake before Goro asks him what his blunder was.  Reptile says that it was letting him live before he leaps at the Shokan prince for a surprise attack.  Suddenly, he, Mileena, Baraka and Kitana are teleported away.  Afterwards, Jax demands for Goro to tell him where he’s keeping Sonya, but they each get teleported as well as the Shokan prince looks forward to his return home.

As he flies through the portal, he feels Shao Kahn’s presence helping him back to Shang Tsung’s island.  Once he lands however, he finds out that Zaggot had somehow prevented him from returning.  Not only that, but he intends to finally get his vengeance on Goro as he transforms into his true form.

Realizing that the fiend wants to tussle with him to the death and that engaging him would only empower him via the chaos that would come from their struggle, he decides to not fight him.  As a result, Zaggot is unable to lay a hand on him, especially since Goro tells him that he fights for a purpose.  As it progresses, the lack of conflict has caused Zaggot to get weakened.  Not only that, he continues to shrink until he ends up small enough for Goro to eat.  With his foe finally defeated, Goro is finally able to have Shao Kahn teleport him back to the island.

And so, the mini-series on an epilogue within the Library of Order as Abacus defeats Zaggot in Chess.  The Chaos God says that he doesn’t like the game since it’s “too slow”, to which Abacus essentially tells him that good strategy can’t be rushed.  Despite his losses,  Zaggot hopes to one day get his vengeance on Goro.

Now, we return to the ongoing storyline that began with “Blood & Thunder” and we see how Malibu fully integrated the major MK II elements into a six-part tale from 1995 called “Mortal Kombat: Battlewave”.  While Chales Marshall resumes his regular writing duties, Patrick Rolo only handled the pencil work for Issues 1, 3 & 4.  As for Parts 2, 5 & 6, those responsibilities would be given to Vincent T. Heck.  So, what kind of threat will the evil emperor bring to our heroes now that he’s finally getting the spotlight?  Let’s get ready for Round 2 and find out.

We open within Outworld where Shao Kahn stands tall over Shang Tsung, especially due to his recent failure.  The fiendish sorcerer begs for forgiveness, but the emperor doesn’t give him any.  Not only that, but the Shokan King named Gorbak wants Shang Tsung to pay for the supposed death of his son Goro.  The Sorcerer tries to flee, but he’s soon met upon by another Shokan warrior named Kintaro who also wants him to pay.  Shang Tsung tries to tell his master that he can still serve him, yet Shao Kahn calls him out for trying to overthrow him.  As such, he intends on making his sorcerer pay with a fate that’s “worse than death”.

Over within a deserted pier side warehouse on Earthrealm, Kano has been captured by his own group.  The Black Dragon leader named Osaka criticizes the group’s top assassin for his miserable failure and for his reckless behavior.  With Kano tied up and his feet trapped in some heavy rock (or what’s supposed to be cement, except it’s brown), Osaka decides to terminate his incompetent member as he opens a trap door and has him plunge into the ocean.  With only moments to spare in order to avoid the afterlife, he breaks out of his rope and smashes the heavy material surrounding his feet before he swims to the surface.  Just as he reaches topside, he’s then confronted by Raiden who informs him that he needs his service and would like to offer a proposition.

We then shift to the following morning in Downtown Chicago as Liu Kang is now working as an architect.  He has a long distance phone call with Johnny Cage whose recent action movie was released and wasn’t liked by the critics.  As Liu tells his friend that he doesn’t have any worries hanging over him, he’s suddenly approached by four ninjas who smash through his high-rise window and attempt to attack him.  As Kang fends them off, it’s soon revealed that this is the third time this month that they’ve attempted to attack him.  Angered by the fact that he’s unable to move on from his Mortal Kombat past, he defeats the ninjas with a swift kick before throwing them out of his window.  Afterwards, he’s able to resume his phone call with Johnny.

Over with Jax, he’s spending his free time lifting weights.  After he completes 500 reps, he thinks about how Kano somehow got out of prison.  Despite that setback, he then reminds himself that Sonya is working on a plan to get him back.  Suddenly, his apartment lights go out as he finds himself approached by a mysterious fighter.  Unfortunately for Lt. Briggs, he gets severely beaten up by the being who’s revealed to be Goro as he tells the fallen fighter that this is a new world and that he’s not part of it.

Over within the wasted plains of Outworld, Kitana has gathered Kung Lao and Baraka in her attempt to usurp her adopted father known as Shao Kahn.  She tells Baraka that they’ll need his mutant army on their side, to which Kung Lao asks her if they’re entirely clear that the Tarkatan fighter is truly on their side.  After he was easily angered by that remark, Baraka unsheathes his blades and attacks him.  Kung Lao uses his razor-tipped hat to fend him off, but Baraka delivers a vicious punch.  Kitana tries to get him under control, but he easily smacks her away.  Just as Baraka goes in for the kill, he’s suddenly frozen as Sub-Zero arrives and tells the group that they’re doomed to fail in their mission if they’re that dysfunctional.  Kitana then asks him how he got into Outworld, to which he explains that his ninja group (Lin Kuei) knows the same secret passages between this domain and Earthrealm that the Order of Light is also aware of.

Meanwhile within Shao Kahn’s fortress, Reptile was apparently doing some inappropriate touching upon Mileena as she throws him through a wall and looks to make him pay.  She then throws her sai and dislodges his mouthpiece as he claims that he’s always tried to be nice to her.  However, she calls him “a cold-blooded, belly-crawler” before he attempts to retaliate with an acid spit, to which she’s able to dodge.  Suddenly, they’re approached by Shao Kahn who tells them to put their personal animosities aside in order for both of them to focus on serving him.  From there, he mentions that he’s aware of a large gathering that’s ready to fight for him.

And so, Issue 1 ends with the reveal that Scorpion has been brought onto his side and is going to lead his army onto Earthrealm.

Issue 2 begins with Johnny performing a fight scene on his upcoming movie.  Afterwards, he heads back to his dressing room while being informed that a lady is waiting there for him.  He soon discovers that it’s Sonya as she mentions that she’s here on official business and that her partner Jax (who’s resting up in a hospital) was beaten to within an inch of his life.  Cage says that he’s too busy making a new film to get involved right now.  She essentially tells him that she’s being seriously truthful about a lone fighter who almost killed Mj. Briggs.  While she explains that, she grabs Johnny with her legs and throws him onto his sofa.  Despite admiring her way of getting her point across, he still declines to help her.  She then tells him that he’s forgotten what’s most important and that she’ll still try to discover the being behind her beaten partner.  After he gets told to stay put while pretending “to be a hero”, Cage is left to contemplate with his thoughts.

Over within Outworld’s wasted plains, Kitana’s resistance continues on their mission to take down Shao Kahn.  Suddenly, Sub-Zero gets a suspicious feeling that they’re being watched.  While Baraka says that he doesn’t see anyone, Kung Lao believes the frosty ninja.  From there, Sub-Zero shoots his ice power towards a particular area, confirming his hunch as it freezes a figure in it.  Kitana realizes that they were being spied upon by Reptile, to which Baraka charges in and attacks him.  Just as the Tarkatan fighter leaps in again, Reptile retaliates by spitting acid into his face and kicking Sub-Zero, all the while mentioning how Shao Kahn will learn of their deceitful actions.  Fortunately, Kitana and Kung Lao manage to kick him together in order to subdue him.  Reptile says that he won’t keep secrets from his master, due to him claiming to be “his most faithful servant”.  However, Baraka sys that he doesn’t trust him before he threatens to slice off the slithering ninja’s tongue.  Fortunately, Kitana says that they have intention to harm him, but they do want him to inform them of Shao Kahn’s plans.

Reptile explains that his master was furious with the outcome of the recent tournament, in addition to the loss of Goro.  As such, he made sure that Shang Tsung paid for his incompetence.  Also, the realm’s mutants left the emperor’s personal army.  As a result, they’ve been replaced with undead soldiers and Scorpion was tasked with leading those troops.  Sub-Zero tries to ask him what Hanzo would hope to gain by joining Shao Kahn’s side, but Baraka wants to slay Reptile right now.  The Lin Kuei warrior says that he wants to learn about Scorpion’s fate, but the Tarkatan fighter hits him away.  From there, the two figures proceed to fight each other as Sub-Zero exclaims that he’s come to Outworld in order to help bring Shao Kahn down, while Baraka mentions that he murdered a prior Lin Kuei member.  Fortunately, Kung Lao and Kitana break up their scuffle as they remind them that they have more important matters to deal with.  While Kung Lao mentions that Reptile managed to slip away during their commotion, Kitana says that they’ve made some significant progress and that Reptile will be unable to rat them out without mentioning to his master that he informed them of his plans.

Over within Downtown Chicago on Earthrealm, Liu Kang arrives at a high-rise office building in order to attend a meeting with Mr. Gold.  As he reaches the office however, he soon discovers that it was a trap set up by Goro.  While he’s shocked to discover his four-armed foe alive, Liu attempts to attack him with a jump kick.  However, Goro stops the attack by grabbing his opponent’s leg and mentions how he’s going to make him pay for embarrassing him in his home realm.  As he smacks Kang, he then mentions that he’s already bested Jax and that he’s going to systematically take out each of our main heroes.  From there, Goro delivers a severe beatdown upon Liu before he’s met upon by someone.

It turns out to be Johnny’s personal bodyguard named Bo and that he was assigned by Cage to look after Kang.  Goro doesn’t take him seriously, yet Bo is able to hit him with his knee.  Even though Goro retaliates with his own fist strike, this allows Liu to recover and kick him through a window.  As he falls out, Goro says that he’s not done with them.  Back in the office, Kang tells Bo that their four-armed foe will mostly likely survive the drop before he thanks him for the help.  After Bo mentions that Johnny told him to help his friend out, Liu properly hires him as his full-time bodyguard.

We then shift ahead to midnight within the hospital’s intensive care ward as a nurse checks up on a resting Jax.  Suddenly, she’s approached by a a woman named Jade who easily knocks her out before her ninja comrade named Smoke enters.  In order to prove their worth to Shao Kahn, they intend to murder Mj. Briggs.  Just as they’re about to execute him, Jax wakes up and grabs them by their wrists before pulling them in and slamming their heads together.  He then wearily tells them to get out, to which they comply and vanish.  And so, Issue 2 ends with Mj. Briggs getting out of bed in order to check out of the hospital.

Issue 3 opens within the evil emperor’s throne room as Shao Kahn & Scorpion learn from an Outworld being that he and his fellow mutants are unable to work alongside the undead army.  As such, the powerful ruler executes him with his eye beams.  As Shao Kahn says that he smells the lingering scent of treachery, Hanzo then throws his spiked ball on a rope at Reptile, which gets latched into the green ninja before he gets dragged towards his master.  Shao Kahn then grabs his head, picks him up and demands for him to tell him any details that he hasn’t shared.  With his life on the line, Reptile informs him that Kitana has gathered some warriors in an effort to usurp him from his rule.  Not only that, but he informed them of his master’s plans.  Despite that, Shao Kahn simply tells him “Excellent” before he laughs.

Back over in Earthrealm, Liu is hanging out with Bo while he tells Johnny in a phone call that he’s not sure if he can afford to stave off his appetite.  Cage assures him that this is his way of knowing that his friend is safe before he hangs up.  Suddenly, there’s a knock at the apartment door as Kang and Bo are suddenly confronted by another group of ninjas.  As such, they proceed to fight them off and ultimately defeat them.  Suddenly, Bo gets hit from behind.

It turns out that this act was caused by a rock creature named Henge and that those ninjas had contacted him within his Nightmare Realm in order to help them terrorize this world.  Just as Bo continues to get roughed up, Liu comes to his rescue and defeats Henge with a fierce jump kick.  He then tells his bodyguard that this isn’t over since he has to take care of some unfinished business back in Outworld.

Meanwhile, Sonya leads a group of U.S. Special Forces agents into the area where Shang Tsung’s island exists.  Even though Sgt. Walker says that no such land exists despite using various search methods, they ultimately reach the island and make their way onto it.  Suddenly, they get ambushed by a group of guards.  Lt. Blade is able to fight them off, but her teammates get massacred at the hands of Kintaro.  He then defeats her with a fierce backhand before capturing her, to which he says that his master is letting her live since she’s going to be part of his plans.

Back within Outworld’s wasted plains, Kitana confirms with her teammates on Shao Kahn’s plans.  With him using Scorpion to lead an army of undead warriors, she tells her comrades that they must stop him.  Kung Lao says that the undead ninja is vital and that they should find him, yet Baraka’s simple mutant mind makes him say that Scorpion isn’t a threat since he’s already dead.  When Sub-Zero says that their Tarkatan ally doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Kitana tells her teammates that this realm has a dire threat, especially since every warrior who lost their lives in battle would be brought onto said armada and would fight without hesitation.  Sub-Zero says that he’s the only one who could properly face Scorpion, to which Baraka says that the only way that the undead army falls is if the ninja spectre dies.  With Kung Lao confirming him, Kitana then tells Sub-Zero to follow through on his notion.

We then shift ahead to two days later as Johnny and Jax fly out to Sonya’s last reported coordinates.  After he mentions that he actually halted the production on his newest film to take part in this operation, Cage tells his comrade that he had to do this after what’s happened to him and what could also be happening to Lt. Blade as well.  Just then, they fly into some turbulent winds even though the skies are clear.  Just then, Cage hears some laughter as Mj. Briggs goes to check on some smoke billowing from the main cabin.  To their surprise, Issue 3 closes out with the reveal that Jade and Smoke had made it onto their aircraft in order to smite them.

Issue 4 begins with Johnny & Jax’ plane getting damaged by their foes.  As such, the aircraft is merely minutes away from a crash landing.

Back on board the plummeting plane, Jade & Smoke had just killed the pilots and are now looking to smite our two men.  With no other choice, Cage and Briggs proceed to engage their foes in a fight.  Johnny is able to block and dodge Jade’s attacks, while Jax initially struggles against Smoke.  Thankfully, Briggs punches the side with enough force to have the fierce ninja get sucked out by the cabin pressure.  Unfortunately, Jade managed to acquire the lone parachute as she jumps out and escapes.  Just when all seems lost for Johnny & Jax, they’re suddenly met upon by some stormy weather as Raiden is fresh off of the events of his three-issue mini-series (which we’ll get to) and lifts the disabled aircraft.

Cage thanks the Thunder God for his timely save, to which Raiden says that both him and Briggs have vital roles to play, especially since he’ll carry them to Outworld.

Meanwhile over within a mountainous region, Liu & Bo are making their way towards a doorway that leads into Outworld.  While they finally arrive at it, it turns out that it can only be reached by jumping off a steep cliff.  Despite the massive drop that awaits them, Kang discards some of his clothes before he jumps off.  Bo then contemplates everything that’s happened to him while serving as Liu Kang’s bodyguard.  Ultimately, he decides to take the plunge.  During his descent, he’s suddenly attacked by Siang who seems to have come back from the afterlife.

Over with Shao Kahn’s fortress, Sonya tries to make her escape.  However, she’s soon met upon by Mileena and Reptile.  Though she does her best to fend them off, they ultimately manage to overwhelm her.  Suddenly, they get blasted by Shao Kahn who then offers Lt. Blade a proposition.

As such, Issue 4 ends with him offering her the chance to rule Outworld as his wife.

However, we’re not entirely done with this comic yet.  We now have a backup story written by Marshall and drawn by Brian O’Connell called “When Titans Clash”.  We kick things off with Kintaro getting prepared to face an adversary that he’s heard about throughout his whole life.  A portal then opens in front of him as Goro emerges, to which Kintaro proceed to engage him in a fight.

Despite the fact that he’s the former Mortal Kombat champion, Goro is able to defeat his opponent in their battle.  Following their fight, Kintaro says that he wanted to prove his own worth to him and to Shao Kahn.  Goro says that he appreciates his self-drive before he helps him up.  From there, the story ends with him telling Kintaro that they must put this incident aside, since “pandemonium” is descending upon them.

Issue 5 opens with Reptile hypnotizing Sonya into becoming Shao Kahn’s bride.  Fortunately, she doesn’t cave that easily.  Mileena and Kano observe this as their green ninja continues to mentally assault her.  Though it took some time, Reptile ultimately gets her under control as she unwillingly agrees to marry Shao Kahn.

Meanwhile on the outskirts of the emperor’s fortress, Sub-Zero manages to stealthily climb his way inside before he takes out the lone guard that he’s come across.  As he recaps the key players within this attempted usurpation, Sub-Zero prepares to find his foe.  However, he’s suddenly met upon by a fierce adersary who hits him hard enough to knock him out.

Meanwhile, Liu has been defeated off-panel by Siang as Bo is stunned by the fierce might of their foe.  Just as Siang is about to resume his assault, Raiden, Johnny and Jax are able to intervene.  Cage manages to jump kick Siang before Raiden shoots some lightning at him.  Just as their foe prepares to strike back with a death grip, Briggs grabs Siang’s wrist and gets him to calm down.  From there, our heroes demand for some answers as Liu wants to know how his fellow Shaolin warrior survived the prior tournament.

Siang explains that he was originally composed of two warriors named Sing and Sang.  They had intended on combining their skills against Goro, but the Prince of Pain forcibly separated them.  While Sing barely survived this, Sang wasn’t as fortunate.  As such, Sing would permanently merge with his deceased brother in order to seek redemption.  Unfortunately, they were swayed by Shao Kahn’s Deathstone and became an unwilling servant to him.  With Siang now freed, Liu offers to let him join their side in order to finally take the evil emperor down.

Meanwhile inside the fortress, Mileena, Reptile, Goro and Kano are in attendance as Shao Kahn says that once he’s united in wedded bliss with Lt. Blade, he’ll be able to take control of Earthrealm with ease.  As the mind-controlled Sonya emerges, Scorpion lets his emperor know that “he” has arrived.  And so, Issue 5 ends with the reveal to be a youthfully-restored Shang Tsung looking to serve as Best Man for this wedding.

Just like the previous comic, we have another backup story as Marshall and artist Tomas Sisneros delves into a particular item that the side of evil sees as “The Gift”.  We kick things off with Kano admiring the Deathstone as he thinks that he can sneak it back to Earthrealm in order to get a heafty payout.  Once he grabs it however, he falls over in agonizing pain as he feels cold while hearing the constant wails of the undead army.  Scorpion then takes it from him as he says that it wasn’t meant for human hands.  He also says that Shao Kahn presented it to him as a gift in order to help him smite the rebellious fighters, in addition to Sub-Zero.

Hanzo then explains that he’ll use the undead army to smite those particular enemies before he helps secure control over all of Outworld.  From there, they’ll head into Earthrealm to do the same thing.  Kano says that he’s seen the undead army fight and doesn’t think that they’re tough enough, to which Scorpion says that the Deathstone gives them strength and that they’re led by a mighty leader.  Suddenly, they’re met upon by Kintaro as the story ends with the reveal that he was the one who knocked out Sub-Zero and is presenting the fallen warrior as a gift.

Issue 6 begins with the wedding underway, as the unionship will shatter the barriers between Outworld and Earthrealm.  Once Sonya has been put into position, a Shadow Priest begins the ceremony.  Just as the crucial part of the procedure is about to be completed, the wedding gets suddenly interrupted.

Liu Kang disrupts the ceremony and proceeds to fight Goro.  Just as Kano and company look to intervene, Raiden makes his presence felt with his entrance as he ultimately goes up against Shang Tsung.  Afterwards, Jax, Johnny & Bo also show up as they proceed to throw down against Reptile, Kano and Smoke respectively.

Siang then comes in and attempts to fight Goro, but despite the Deathstone getting destroyed off-panel, the Prince of Pain says that Shao Kahn still has a fragment of it and thus, Siang falls back under the emperor’s devious grasp.  Suddenly, Goro gets hit by a familiar freeze attack as a rescued Sub-Zero and the rest of Kitana’s resistance group also show up.  From there, a massive brawl erupts between the various heroes and the emperor’s forces, all the while the devious ruler’s plans begin to fall apart.

Unbeknownst to him, Sonya is able to break free from her mind-controlled state and kick him on his head.  Despite that, Shao Kahn lets out a commanding laugh that brings the massive fight to an end.  From there, he issues a challenge where two teams of fighters will engage each other.  For Shang Tsung, he’ll have Goro, Kintaro, Scorpion, Reptile, Kano, Mileena, Smoke, Jade and the mind-controlled Siang in his group.  As for Raiden, his team will consist of Liu Kang, Lt. Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Kitana, Sub-Zero, Jax, Kung Lao, Baraka and Bo.  And so, the series ends with the stage set as two opposing forces will be duking it out in Mortal Kombat.

For our final backup story of this series, we have writer Dan Shaheen and artist Keith Conroy coming together to bring us an interlude tale called “Every Dog Has Its Day”.  We kick things off over in Palo Verdes, California as Johnny tried to convince Sonya to stay with him for a few more days.  However, she declines his offer.  We then shift to two weeks earlier as the two of them are on a special mission.  While Cage fights off the thugs, Lt. Blade manages to rescue the U.S. Secretary and his wife.

From there, they reach the surface where they’re met upon by military personnel before Johnny and Sonya share a kiss.  From there, it’s revealed that this was entirely a movie shoot.  We then shift back to the present time as Cage asks her why she’s turning down his offer, to which Lt. Blade says that she has Special Forces business to take care of.  As such, she’ll be heading out the following morning.  And so, the story ends with him saying that he’ll see her again.

As for how this major storyline ends, we have another one-shot comic called “Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition II”.  Released in August 1995, we once again have the familiar writing/penciling duo of Marshall & Rolo.  So, how will our pro-Earthrealm group of fighters do against Shang Tsung and his armada of pro-Outworld combatants?  Let’s get in the ring and find out.

We open upon a medallion in the shape of the familiar symbol.  In the narration, Shao Kahn has declared that whoever reaches it first will claim victory for their team.

With both Raiden and Shang Tsung each having their own group of fighters, the evil emperor officially announces for the contest to begin.  Shortly after the Thunder God has been sent with his team to the wasted plains of Outworld, he tells them that he’ll lead them towards the Dragon Medallion.  However, Kitana says that she should serve as the group’s leader.  While Kung Lao sides with Raiden as the de facto leader, Bo just wants them to get moving towards the medallion.  Unfortunately, Baraka gets fed up with their constant conversations and decides to just attack the group.  Jax intervenes and stops him, but the Tarkatan warrior responds by slicing key parts of his arms.  Raiden punishes him by shocking him to death before Kung Lao uses his knowledge in “The Healing Arts” to help Mj. Briggs.

Suddenly, they notice an ominous fog rolling in as they’re soon met upon by Smoke, Kano, Kintaro and Goro.  With our heroes struggling to fend them off, Raiden decides to sacrifice himself as he sends out a massive surge of lightning that takes out all four opposing fighters, while seemingly at the cost of his own life.

Over within the Living Forest, Shang Tsung’s group is making their way through it as he wonders where Scorpion is at.  Jade also gets concerned about Smoke, yet Mileena says that they shouldn’t worry and simply focus on getting the medallion.  Suddenly, Reptile notices someone approaching as it turns out to be Kitana as she announces her intention to side with those “who represent the interest” of her homeland.  While Shang Tsung and Reptile are glad to see her side with them, Mileena doesn’t buy it and sees it only as a ruse.  As such, the two of them have a fight.  Reptile wants them to stop, but Shang Tsung hits him and says that they must go after the medallion.

Later over on the wasted plains, Kitana is back with the group as Sonya asks if her Special Forces partner will live.  Kung Lao tells her that it will come down to his strong constitution.  Just then, Mj. Briggs warns her that Kano is approaching.  Sure enough, the Black Dragon member survived the electrified assault as he now leaps towards Lt. Blade.  Fortunately, she manages to fend him off.  Unfortunately, Kano had another comrade who survived Raiden’s sacrifice as it’s revealed to be Kintaro.  He manages to smack Kung Lao away before he picks up a weary Jax.  Sonya tries to stop him, but Kano grabs onto her hair and holds a knife to her neck before forcing her to watch her partner get massacred.

Kintaro begins to apply some pressure onto Mj. Briggs’ spine.  Thankfully, he manages to break out of the four-armed fiend’s grasp.  Lt. Blade even gets out of Kano’s death grip and proceeds to beat him up.  She then tells him that she no longer wants to see him dead, but that he should live and suffer at the same time.  She then learns from the weary Jax that once they get home, he wants to get some “metal arms”.

Over within the Living Forest, Scorpion and Siang are hiding out together.  Hanzo says that he’s detecting an “essence of life and death” from his fellow fighter and it’s puzzling to him.  Siang says that’s being an enigma to all, even towards himself.  When Scorpion says that he’s willing to hear his story, Siang complies and proceeds with his backstory.  As Sing & Sang, they were Shaolin fighters from the Order of Light who could merge together and become one unified warrior.  They entered the tournament before Goro ripped them apart and viciously attacked them.  While Sang didn’t survive, Sing did as he decides to permanently merge with his deceased comrade.

With no reason to live and nothing left to lose, Siang would venture towards the vile emperor with the intent of seeking redemption.  However, he & Goro possessed the Deathstone, allowing them to take control over Siang and bring him into their armada.  He then says that while the Deathstone was recently destroyed, he’s still under Shao Kahn’s command.  As such, he wishes to sit out this whole ordeal until it’s done.  Scorpion then decides to grant him some release as he takes out the remaining Deathstone and crushes it.  Despite giving Siang his freedom, Hanzo attacks him with his signature kunai-rope dart before delivering a mercy kill.

Over at a cliff that’s not too far away, Liu, Johnny and Bo are in the middle of a climb.  Suddenly, they hear a woman calling out for help as she’s hanging on for dear life.  Kang sees that it’s Jade as he offers to help her up.  However, she takes advantage of his kind act by grabbing onto him before she yanks him over the edge.

Afterwards, Bo gets blindsided from behind as Cage finds himself up against Shang Tsung.  Johnny tries to attack with his signature Shadow Kick, but the fiendish sorcerer easily blocks his strike before retaliating with his magical assault.  He then says that nothing will stand between him and the ultimate prize that will give him “everlasting glory”.  Unbeknownst to him, Reptile had overheard his monologue and proceeds to attack him for going against their master.  With Shang Tsung knocked out, Reptile says that he’ll seek the grand prize out for Shao Kahn.  Fortunately, Bo regained his consciousness and slams him onto the ground before he sits on him and says that they can wait for this contest to end.

Over within the snowy and wind-swept mountains, Sub-Zero makes the perilous trek towards the ultimate prize.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by Goro as they proceed to fight each other.  Bi-Han manages to unleash the full force of his freezing power before he defeats the Shokan warrior with some fierce kicks.  With Shao Kahn’s medallion only mere feet away, he’s then confronted by Scorpion.  Sub-Zero unmasks himself and says that he’s not going to fight him, especially since he’s more concerned with other things outside of “a spectre’s revenge”.

He tells his undead foe to do whatever he intends to do, but it won’t change the fact that he still fell to Bi-Han in a fair fight.  He even tells Hanzo that executing him with his supernatural powers would ultimately prove that he’s a coward.  Scorpion then reveals his true face and tells him that he’s probably right, but it’s something that they can talk about “in the afterlife”.  From there, he torches Sub-Zero within his scorching flames.  With his last burst of life, Bi-Han manages to crawl his way over to the medallion and touch it before he finally succumbs to his burns.

Over within his fortress, Shao Kahn declares the contest over.  With bigger plans on his mind, he proceeds to send the main Earth-based figures back to their realm as he states that he’ll bring about “the final darkness”.  We then shift to an epilogue two months later in Downtown Tokyo as a group of blue-clad ninjas break into a building in order to destroy a computer system.  Suddenly, they end up frozen in place.

And so, the comic ends with the reveal of Bi-Han’s younger brother Kuai Liang causing these Lin Kuei soldiers to chill as he chastises the clan for degrading themselves into committing acts of “teachery and deceit” before he denounces the group as “unworthy” of his services.

Now that the main storyline within Malibu’s run has come & gone, let us backtrack and catch up on a few more books.  Before Lt. Blade and Mj. Briggs got caught up within the events of “Battlewave”, they’ll fight alongside their familiar team as they go after a certain group of goons in a two-part series called “Mortal Kombat: U.S. Special Forces”.  Released in January & February 1995, Patrick Rolo would keep his penciling duties for this project.  As for whom got to write this tale, that would be given to Mark Paniccia.  So, what kind of task will our trained agents be looking to complete?  We’ll find out while trying to protect some “Secret Treasures”.

We open on the docks as members of the Black Dragon are hurriedly trying to bring crates full of valuable objects onto their ship in order to evade the U.S. Special Forces.  Unfortunately for them, they were hiding out and waiting to strike.  As such, Sonya, Jax and their fellow agents emerge to engage the thugs.  Lt. Mikka Stone is able to defeat a nun-chuk wielding goon, while another agent named Cody Finnigan uses his hand-to-hand skills to subdue another criminal.  While the abnormal agent named Vapor is able to withstand gunfire, her teammate named Sylence is able to sneak up and assassinate the opposing gunman.  Finally, Torque is able to use his bionic arms to take down some remaining foes.

Meanwhile, Lt. Blade & Mj. Briggs confront the evil leader named Rojack and one last goon as they order them to surrender.  However, Rojack says that everything on this ship either belongs to the Black Dragon or no one at all.  From there, the fiends jump into the ocean.  Sonya and Jax immediately know that he intends to blow the entire boat with every valuable object inside it.  Just as they and their fellow agents manage to leap off, Rojack takes the detonator out and activates it, engulfing the ship in a big explosion.  As the team reaches the docks, Mj. Briggs is furious that they let their key suspects get away.  Lt. Blade tells him to not blame himself, since they didn’t have a backup plan in place.  After Vapor tells her team that she couldn’t find any sign of their foes, they soon discover that only Torque suffered any significant damage as one of his bionic arms got blown off.

Later on at U.S. Special Forces headquarters, Sonya accesses the team’s main computer system in order to learn about Rojack.  She finds out that the fiend named Jack Morris has been with the Black Dragon since 1982 and was a former Green Beret who got dishonorably discharged after he smuggled some weapons to various terrorist groups, including to his current team.  Not only that, but he got arraigned and convicted for a crime where in 1984, he helped set up the sale of nuclear components to a Chinese revolutionary group.  From there, Dr. Boone comes in as she tells him that she couldn’t find anything within his records that could help them.  He then presents her with an artifact that was recovered from the recent marina incident, containing indecipherable markings and that it’s made out of an unknown material from a time that seems to pre-date mankind.  He also said that some gold bars were also found there and had similar markings.  While they did capture the lone surviving Black Dragon member named Tread from the incident, he’s been uncooperative.  As such, she thinks that the fiendish group has a big scheme in the works.  Over in the interrogation room, Cody and Sylence try to learn from the surviving goon where his group stole their gold from.  However, Tread still refuses to talk.  Even when Sylence threatens to cut his tongue out, he still doesn’t budge.  With them unable to pry any useful information out of the guy, they have two guards look after him from solitary confinement while they go to check up on Lt. Blade.  Just as she tells them that she hasn’t found anything significant, she gets contacted by Jax as he informs her that he and Mikka are combing over the marina for clues.  After he promises for them to return in an hour, Lt. Stone soon discovers a Black Dragon communication device as she presses recall to reach the last number that it was calling out to.

After they get back to their van, they access their mini-computer in order to find out what local building is connected with the previously-contacted phone number.  They soon discover that it’s a combustibles lab called Chemtech, which is also a government contractor.  As they drive off, they’re unaware that a Black Dragon agent has purposefully placed the com device in its spot in order to lure them into a trap as he contacts his group.  Meanwhile, Mikka informs headquarters that she and Jax are going to investigate their new lead and that she’ll send the coordinates of their destination to them.  Should they need help, they’ll contact them for back-up.  As they pass by an intersection, they start getting tailed by a few Black Dragon goons.

Mj. Briggs then notices the fiends catching up to them before they pull up aside.  Just as he and Lt. Stone realize that they’re from the opposing group, they then get viciously side-swiped as their van rolls over a parked car before landing on its side.  After they get out, they’re soon met upon by those Black Dragon thugs.  Jax and Mikka try to fight back, but they’re ultimately overwhelmed by the evil group as they get captured.  They then get forced into their van, since Rojack “has a few things” to tell them.  Mj. Briggs calls them out for their cowardly ambush, but he gets pistol-whipped by their gun and ends up unconscious.

Back at U.S. Special Forces headquarters, Torque emerges with his new bionic arms before he, Sonya, Cody and Sylence learn from their communicator that they’ve lost contract with both Briggs & Stone.  With them fully-aware of where their comrades were heading to, they realize that only Tread could tell them where they can find the missing agents.  They rush to his cell before Sonya goes in first.  Unfortunately, Issue 1 ends with her and her fellow agents discovering his dead body.

We’re not done this this particular book just yet, since it does contain a quick backup story.  As such, let’s briefly bring up another Marshall & Rolo collaboration called “Break Out”.  We kick things off at Midway Penitentiary where Lt. Blade and Mj. Briggs try to warn the warden that the Black Dragon will attempt to bust Kano out tonight, but they need his cooperation in order for them to properly avoid it.  However, the warden is confident that his facility’s security will stop the opposing group.  As if on ironic cue, the Black Dragon have effectively helped Kano break free from his prison.  Fortunately, Sonya & Jax were able to oppose the fiends and fight them off.  She then chases down a perp that looks like Kano, but she soon finds out that it isn’t him.  Meanwhile, the genuine goon is fleeing on a helicopter as the story ends with him ready to do some devious acts, especially since “Battlewave” was about to be launched.

Issue 2 begins with the team’s medical examiner looking over Tread’s corpse, revealing that their inmate took his own life via poisoning.  Sonya then talks with Cody and tells him that if the Black Dragon’s members are able to slip poison pills into themselves to stay silent, then she’s worried for Jax & Mikka.  Suddenly, she get contacted by the team’s communicative member who tells her that Mj. Briggs & Lt. Stone’s van was found, having been side-swiped and wrecked by another van before its patrons were able to kidnap their comrades.  Within the narration, she then gets worried that it may be too late to save them.

Meanwhile, Jax & Mikka are both tied-up as they’re met upon by Rojack and his fellow Black Dragon thugs within a warehouse.  Jack tells them that since he and his group were forced to lose a hefty amount of gold, he’ll be forcing them into helping the gang out.  From there, he opens a crate and takes out a particular item called the Kitai.  He describes it as “a door knob to a world of riches” that will help the Black Dragon become “the wealthiest organization on Earth”.  He then delves into its background, where it was worshipped several millennia ago by “a tribe of islanders”.  Believed to have been given to them by the Gods, Rojack goes on to explain that following the ancient group’s conquest over various tribes, they would use the Kitai to create a dimensional portal and keep their treasures within said realm.  The Black Dragon would initially hear about all of this after they intercepted a message from the archeologists that found the Kitai in the first place.  Now, they plan on using it to place the ancient group’s pilfered treasure into their hands.

Back over at U.S. Special Forces headquarters, the communicative official tells Lt. Blade, Cody & Sylence that she hasn’t located Mj. Briggs and Lt. Stone.  It isn’t helped that their com devices were removed and ditched a few blocks from the crash site.  Not to mention, there hasn’t been any ransom demands received from the Black Dragon.  Suddenly, she gets a message from the lab as she tells Sonya and her group to head over to Lab Room D in order to check out something vital.  Once inside, Sonya is given some high-tech safety goggles to view their piece of Kitai.  The head scientist informs her that he and his team received some odd readings on their electromagnetic meters during their tests.  As such, they decided to intentionally measure it for “E-Waves”.  With his team activating their device, the piece of Kitai glows as the head scientist says that it absorbs electricity for a charge and even absorbs electromagnetic waves.  Once the electromechanical device gets deactivated, Sonya realizes that if the Black Dragon has even more pieces of Kitai, then they can proper trace them.

Back at the warehouse, Rojack learns that more pieces of Kitai has arrived as he prepares to uses the captured agents as “volunteers” for their upcoming scheme.  With both Jax and Mikka unable to break out of their bonds, they decide to talk to Jack in order to stall for time.  After learning about the massive amount of gold waiting within the “other dimension”, she asks their captor why they’re being kept alive.  Rojak says that they’ll be used to go bring the valuables back to them, especially since our agents will be kept under control via shock leashes.  Over within the skies, Vapor is flying towards her team’s destination.  Within the narration, some background is given about her as she used to be a scientist within the U.S. Special Forces who worked on an invisibility device before a terrible accident led to her current state.  Over in a nearby helicopter, Cody and Sylence fly with her towards their destination.  Meanwhile on ground level, Sonya and Torque drive their way towards there via a van.  Back over at the warehouse, Jax, Mikka, Rojak and the goons soon discover that a recently brought in crate has its contents sending off massive sparks of electricity.  Jack gets concerned since the Kitai are supposed to be voice-activated.

Meanwhile, Lt. Blade and Torque arrive at the warehouse as they dive out of the van before it rams into the gun-wielding guards.  Afterwards, Torque punches through a wall to let himself & his teammates in as a massive fight between them and the Black Dragon goons erupts.  Torque manages to free Jax & Mikka as every last goon falls.  Suddenly, the Kitai creates a portal to an island surrounded by water.  Sonya realizes that the electromagnetic wave meter within their van has caused it to open, especially since they accidentally left it on.  While Rojack complains that it should only open with a vocal command, Torque manages to hit him into the portal.  He then grabs a crate containing the Kitai and throws it into the gate, causing it to close.

With the whole ordeal over, Lt. Blade decides to list their foe as “missing”, to which Sylence says that he deserved it for placing money above human life.  When Cody asks about the still-retained gold, the series ends with Torque mentioning several things that it’ll be able to cover.

From there, we move on to Malibu Comics’ final mini-series for this franchise.  If you remember back in “Battlewave” when the Thunder God brought the Black Dragon’s now-disgraced mercenary onto his side for an important task, then you would realize that it’s time that we delved into that venture.  Released from March to May 1995, this three-part tale called “Mortal Kombat: Rayden & Kano” has Charles Marshall once again in the writer’s chair.  As for the pencil work, Kiki Chansamone takes up that task for most of Issue 1 and all of Issue 3.  Meanwhile, Ed LaRoche handles the job for the final five pages of Issue 1, while Darryl Cobbs handles the workload for Issue 2.  So, what kind of adventure will these two mismatched figures find themselves on?  Let’s charge up while sharpening our razor-sharp minds and find out.

We open within the Arctic Circle as Raiden summons a thunderstorm before he fires a massive burst of lightning onto a singular spot.  It turns out that it was burying a unique and malevolent sword called Ebbonrule, in which he plans on using it against a certain evil.

Over with a dark part of town, Sonya and Jax had attempted to track down Kano after he attacked a whole group of U.S. Special Forces agents by himself.  After they express their own self-worry towards their foe, Kano smashes through a nearby window before he stabs Mj. Briggs to death.  Afterwards, he attacks Lt. Blade before he kills her by snapping her neck.  Suddenly, it’s revealed that it was all a dream as Kano wakes up within a spacious bedroom before he gets up in order to learn what’s going on.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by a pair of women named Rayne & Wynd, both of whom act as “servants and guardians of the House of Raiden”.  They ask him to stay put until their master returns to answer his questions.  Wynd then offers him some special healing tea, but Kano decides to be lecherous towards her as he grabs her wrist.

She and Rayne proceed to beat him up for his less-than admirable behavior, while they also wonder what use their master would want from him.  Kano then takes out a knife and tries to attack, but he gets stopped as Raiden returns to his humble abode.  He calls Kano out for having a corrupt and hate-filled heart, while also wasting his life on unlawful and cruel acts.  Fortunately, he’s willing to help the perp redeem himself.

However, Kano refuses to be “kicked around” as he lunges towards the Thunder God.  Thankfully, Raiden stuns him with some small sparks before he tells the fiend that he wants them to join forces in order to make it through such “perilous days”.  He then tells Kano that he’s watched him over the years, ranging from his days as an orphan on the Hong Kong streets to his rise within the Black Dragon and his ultimate participation in Mortal Kombat.  Through all of that, Raiden says that he sees some good potential within him.  However, Kano just gets up and stabs him in the chest.  Thankfully, it doesn’t phase Raiden as he simply shocks the fiend.  Despite Kano’s actions, the Thunder God tells him that he’s still willing to help guide him out of his dark ways.  From there, Rayne brings in a scroll as she proceeds to read off the tale of a fiendish figure named the Black Dragon.

Long ago, there was the titular being who was actually known as Draxxon.  He had a right-hand man named Caan who did various harmful acts for his emperor.  Fortunately, the latter crossed paths with Raiden as the Thunder God also sensed some nobility within him.  Raiden managed to disarm Draxxon of his sword before letting Caan wield it.  For the Thunder God, his faithful act paid off as Caan discovered his inner strength and was able to tap into the Ebbonrule’s true power, thus allowing him to slay Draxxon.  Rayne concludes the tale by mentioning that while he was on his deathbed, Caan told Raiden to hide the blade in order to make sure that no other vile person uses it for evil purposes.  From there, the Thunder God tells Kano that he has the strength to use the Ebbonrule in order to take Shao Kahn down.  From there, he takes up the offer and agrees to the team-up.

We then cut to some time later as Raiden carries Kano across the ocean before they reach the spot where Shang Tsung’s island is usually at, but it’s nowhere to be seen.  The Thunder God says that it only exists to suit either the fiendish sorcerer or the evil emperor.  With Shao Kahn being far-more powerful than Draxxon and setting his sights on conquering Earthrealm, Raiden proceeds to transport himself and Kano into Outworld.  With the mercenary wielding the Ebbonrule, he and the Thunder God begin to make their way towards the evil emperor’s fortress.

Inside the castle, Reptile informs his master that Raiden has returned to their realm.  Not only that, but the Ebbonrule is in his possession.  Furious towards the Thunder God’s constant meddling, he attacks Reptile while the green-clad ninja tells him that he’s not trying to usurp him.  Shao Kahn gets himself under control as he says that he’ll make sure that the Elder Gods will see that he only acted in self-defense and thus, he wants the Thunder God to fall.  Meanwhile, Raiden flies Kano towards the castle.  Suddenly, he feels weary and drops his comrade.  While Kano plummets towards the ground, Raiden tells him to not fail as Issue 1 ends with him suddenly exploding.

Issue 2 begins with Kano in the middle of a full-on freefall before he plummets into a forest and gets smacked around between a few trees.  Ultimately, he grabs onto a branch and saves himself.  However, he soon discovers that he’s in the Living Forest as the tree grabs him with its limbs and slams him onto the ground.  Fortunately, he lands right next to the Ebbonrule as he manages to retrieve the blade.

After Kano recaps what he’s learned about the sword from Rayne, Wynd & Raiden and that he must use it against Shao Kahn, the same living tree tells him that he and his fellow forest brethren respect his weapon.  Unfortunately for Kano, he’s soon met upon by Reptile who kicks him with enough force to disarm him.  After he takes hold of the Ebbonrule, he then says that he’ll get proudly rewarded by his master.  Before he does that, he also tells of his intention to bring Kano’s body to Shao Kahn as well.  Reptile then jumps in, but Kano manages to retaliate against him.

They proceed to swap hits with each other as Kano manages to reclaim the Ebbonrule and uses it to slash Reptile across his chest.  With the blade firmly in his grasp, he feels his own surging redemption as he looks to go after Shao Kahn.  However, Reptile manages to get some backup of his own.  The living tree then informs Kano that he’s going up against the Army of the Dead, which consists of warriors that have fallen in battle and were resurrected by Shao Kahn to serve his destructive means.  Kano jumps right in and proceeds to fight them.  Despite his efforts though, he starts to get overwhelmed as they manage to gang up on him.

Fortunately, Raiden returns alive and well as he blasts the undead army with his own lightning.  With the undead army surrounding them, the Thunder God tells Kano to go after Shao Kahn while he holds them off.  Suddenly, they’re met upon by Scorpion who looks to help out his personal armada.  While Raiden personally takes him on, Kano heads out to deal with the evil emperor.

Meanwhile within his castle, Shao Kahn is resting up following his own prior attempt at destroying Raiden.  While Mileena tells him to not bother her father, the wounded Reptile speaks out about him having seen the Ebbonrule within their realm.  Shao Kahn then tells them both to take their leave while he deals with this by himself.  Not too long afterwards, Kano bursts in and confronts the vile ruler.  However, it’s soon revealed that they secretly had their own deal.  Shao Kahn uses his dark magic to destroy the Ebbonrule before he then gives Kano the powers that can help him fight Raiden.  And so, Issue 2 ends with the fiendish mercenary flying off to do battle against the Thunder God.

Issue 3 opens with a fully-powered Kano revealing his deceptive colors by fighting Raiden.

Back over within his fortress, Shao Kahn is weary due to him temporarily transferring a good portion of his power to Kano.  Mileena wants him to rest, but he wants to be ready to act.  He explains that while his plan started off as a means to humiliate the Thunder God, he thinks that Kano may be able to slay the mighty being.  From there, a two-page recap occurs showing off the key events from this mini-series.

Back up in the skies, Kano continues to wail away upon Raiden.  From there, the Thunder God retreats into the clouds before he uses his power to intensify them for himself.  He then chastises Kano for betraying his trust before he flies back in and delivers a powerful electric blast onto him.

Suddenly, an ominous fog rolls up around him as he’s then met upon by Smoke.  Not only that, but Jade also pops up and kicks him before the two of them subdue him in order to finally prove their worth to Shao Kahn.  Just then, they both get blasted by Kano who says that he wants to defeat Raiden by himself.  From there, Smoke & Jade retreat before he and Raiden resume their fierce battle against each other.

Over on the top of his fortress, Shao Kahn and Mileena observe the intense scuffle.  With Kano getting near the end of his temporary hold upon Shao Kahn’s powers, the evil emperor feels his own strength returning as he anticipates getting his shot at finally smiting the Thunder God once and for all.  Back in the skies, Kano has Raiden within in a submissive hold and tells him that he doesn’t like being treated like one of his servants.  Stunned at the fact that the Thunder God knew that while still trusting him, Kano delivers his final piece of dignity by tossing Raiden through a portal that leads back to Earthrealm.  However, Shao Kahn is furious that he lost his opportunity to smite the Thunder God.  From there, he punishes Kano and spares him from a fierce execution.

Later within his personal house, Raiden is met upon by Rayne and Wynd as they notice that he’s been silent ever since his return.  He tells them that Kano’s betrayal has cost him his chance to defeat Shao Kahn, yet that same being saved his life by the end.  Raiden then says that no matter how hard he commits himself to taking the evil emperor down, he’s ultimately unable to do so since there must always be “a balance”.  Wynd tries to offer him some tea, but he rejects it as he says that he vows to make a major difference someday.  He then electrifies his scale while he promises to protect Earthrealm until the day comes that either himself or Shao Kahn gets destroyed.  And so, the series ends with him looking over his scale as he ponders over his duties and wonders if despite his recent actions, he even made a tiny tipping of the real-life scale in Earthrealm’s struggle between good and evil.

We’ve now reached the final stretch of Malibu Comics’ run with the property, where we’ll delve into three one-shots that feature certain characters that were introduced in Mortal Kombat II.  First up, we have “Mortal Kombat: Baraka”, released in June 1995 with Charles Marshall writing and Vinton T. Heck taking care of penciling duties.  As such, let’s focus on a side-venture where our Tarkatan warrior must prevent the gravest of harms from falling upon a child in a tale called “Babality”.

We begin with a two-month old mutant baby being carried by a fellow mutant guardian, as both of them are being pursued by the Army of the Dead.  Fortunately for them, Baraka arrives and slices away at the opposing armada.  Afterwards, the mutant adult tells him that the child named Nania is a beacon of hope and he wants him to protect the young being.  With his dying breath, he tells Baraka to keep the kid safe from Shao Kahn so that she can eventually save them all.  We then shift ahead two days later as he’s walking through the Living Forest while carrying Nania on his back.  The trees manage to taunt him about his parental duties, but he’s able to shut them up by threatening them with his retractable blade.

Several days go by as he aimlessly wanders throughout Outworld with Nania on his back.  He then thinks back to his fellow rebels and their ultimate goal of usurping Shao Kahn from his throne.  He thinks back to a week ago when they captured Reptile who was spying on them and then learning about the evil emperor’s schemes, which included Scorpion controlling his undead army with the Deathstone.  After Sub-Zero left to go fight Hanzo, Baraka questions this decision and wants to go help him.  Fortunately, Kitana tells him that their frosty ally is capable of smiting his foe again, while Kung Lao says that their mission requires them to be stealthy and strong.  However, Baraka disagrees with them and says that he can do this by himself before he heads out on his own.

We then cut back to the present where he’s met upon by the undead armada.  He manages to cut his way through the devious soldiers before he’s met upon by Scorpion.  To his horror, he discovers that Hanzo has managed to take Nania away from him.  Baraka tries to prevent his foe from taking the child to Shao Kahn, but Scorpion manages to teleport away.  Baraka gets mad at himself as he realizes that he needs help in getting her back.

Suddenly, he’s met upon by a ninja named Noob Saibot who tells him that he’s willing to help, especially since he’s very knowledgeable of all that goes on within Outworld.  Baraka thinks that he’s being tricked as he tries to attack, yet Noob easily fights him off and says that he’s only come here to help him save the child.  Baraka then asks him why he’s only shown up now, to which Saibot says that he wants to repent for waiting too long.

Meanwhile in an area that’s not too far away, Scorpion is hanging out with Nania as he wonders why Shao Kahn wants this singular child dead.  As he holds her within his grasp, he then thinks back to his past life where he had a wife & a son before Sub-Zero came along and swiftly killed him in combat.  Hanzo then says that he wants to know Nania’s “secret” before he personally executes her.  Suddenly, he gets hit from behind as a kunai spear on a rope strikes the back of his head.  It turns out to be Noob Saibot and Baraka as they look to save the child.  They each manage to get a hit on him, yet Scorpion is able to take out the Deathstone in order to summon his undead army.

With the overwhelming hoard bearing down on them, Noob has managed to reclaim the child while Baraka manages to shatter Hanzo’s Deathstone.  Without its otherworldly spell to control them, the undead armada ends up withering into dust.  Scorpion then teleports away in defeat, but not before Baraka managed to cut off a piece of his outfit.  Afterwards, Saibot tells him that Nania is unharmed and that they stopped this current threat from Shao Kahn.  However, the evil emperor will still try to hunt the child down.  As such, he’s going to take her to a place where she’ll be hidden until she’s grown up and is able to fulfill her destiny.  From there, they vanish as Baraka finds himself alone again.  And so, the comic ends with him walking around as he constantly thinks about Nania and how he fought for her, as well as for a greater cause.

Next up, we have Liu Kang’s Shaolin ally dealing with an internal and external battle of his own.  Published in July 1995, “Mortal Kombat: Kung Lao” has Marshall once again helming the story, while Tim Divar draws away here with his pencils.  As such, let’s see what kind of struggles he’ll go through while being a “Rising Son”.

We begin with our bloodied main character who’s also the last figure in a disgraced family line.  It’s soon revealed that he and his fellow resistance fighters have been strung up on makeshift crosses following their devastating defeat at the hands of Shao Kahn.  With no one left to stop him, he and his fellow warriors are free to march towards absolute triumph.

Thankfully, it’s entirely revealed to have been a horrid vision that Kung Lao saw during a vision quest.  Seeing that the mission wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by the evil emperor, he prepares to go warn his fellow freedom fighters.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by Sub-Zero as he tries to inform him of his vision.  However, his frosty friend says that he knows that Shao Kahn is aware of their plans and that while the Lin Kuei used to ally themselves with the evil emperor, he would like “to renew those ties”.  He then attacks Kung Lao with his freeze power and his limbs.  Fortunately, the Shaolin warrior manages to uppercut Sub-Zero with enough force that he lands into a nearby lake.

Before he can take his leave, Baraka suddenly jumps out from the water and attempts to slash him.  Fortunately, Kung Lao manages to retaliate while he continues to questions why his allies are turning on him.  Shortly after Baraka disappears into the smoke, he’s soon met upon by Kitana.  While he wants them to strike back against Shao Kahn, she suddenly tells him that they must act on their “desires” and “passion” for each other instead.  Fortunately, he sees through her ruse and hits her away.  From there, the disguise dissolves as Kung Lao sees the true perpetrator behind these attacks.

It turns out that Shang Tsung had shape-shifted into each of his allies.  Kung Lao then wonders why Shao Kahn is keeping him around despite his deceptive failure from “Blood & Thunder”, to which the evil sorcerer says that his master needs him as his destructive tool.  He’s also aware of Kitana’s intention to take Shao Kahn down and that he plans on killing her once he’s finished with Kung Lao.  Before the fight though, he decides to shape-shift into various fighters before he chooses whom he would like to fight as.  Ultimately, he chooses to fight Kung Lao as Kung Lao himself.  Fortunately, the genuine article easily puts that idea to an end as his kicks his doppelganger in the head.  However, Shang Tsung decides to take a psychological approach as he turns into someone extremely familiar.

He transforms into the Great Kung Lao and proceeds to assault his adversary, all-the-while reminding him of how his father lost to Goro before Shang Tsung claimed his soul.  Kung Lao continues to get beaten up by the false representation of his father as Shang Tsung prepares to finish him off once and for all.  Suddenly, the Great Kung Lao’s soul manages to take control over the sorcerer’s body and communicates to his son.  With it taking all of his strength just to hold the fiend back, he tells his kin to release his spirit.  As such, Kung Lao delivers a fierce kick that not only knocks Shang Tsung out, but allows his father’s soul to finally be freed in order to ascend towards eternal rest.  And so, the comic ends with Kung Lao standing over his foe’s unconscious body while watching his dad’s soul ascend to heaven, thus giving him some newfound strength to fight on.

For our last entry from Malibu Comics, we focus on the “daughters” of Shao Kahn as we delve into their backgrounds in a notable entry called “Mortal Kombat: Kitana & Mileena”.  Published in August 1995, Marshall gets to craft this particular narrative while Greg Horn handles the pencil work.  So, how does this one-shot deal with their backstory?  Let’s unearth this particular “Sister Act” and find out.

We open with Kitana making her way through a certain section of the emperor’s fortress, all while having a nagging feeling within her mind.  Suddenly, she’s met upon by Reptile who tells her that despite being Shao Kahn’s daughter, she’s not allowed down here.  She says that she can go wherever she wants, but he grabs her arm and stops her.  She then proceeds to kick him as a fight breaks out between them.  Ultimately, she kicks him with enough force to smash him through a wall.  To her surprise, she’s discovered a hidden treasure room as she knocks Reptile out before noticing a book upon a desk.  As such, she decides to delve into it.

It tells of a time when the realm was ruled by a noble king named Jerrod, his queen named Sindel and their princess daughter Kitana.  For 10,000 years, they happily held a peaceful control over a land with fair plains, a laughing forest and prosperous people.  Also, their kingdom had no enemies, aside from the familiar emperor.  On one particular day, Jarrod and Kitana are out for a stroll when they suddenly come across an abandoned baby boy.  They proceed to kind-heartedly take the young babe back to the castle and adopt him.  Time passes as “the threat of darkness” begins to loom.  While they wait for their eventual dinner with Sindel, Kitana keeps the very-intelligent baby occupied while Jerrod has a meeting with some members of the Lin Kuei.  The main representative named Ice offers his group’s allegiance against the growing threat that is Shao Kahn.  Jerrod assures him that he has no need for their help, since he’ll make sure that the evil emperor never comes to power as long as he’s still alive.  Just as the fiend emerges from behind, Ice reveals that his group has been offered a spot in the kingdom by said fiend if he brings in the king’s head.  From there, he attempts to assassinate Jerrod.

Fortunately, he protects his daughter before he tells them that they were used due to the evil emperor fearing him.  Ice begs for mercy, but Jerrod will have none of it as he attempts to slay him.  Suddenly, he gets fatally blasted from behind.  Kitana tearfully rushes to his side as he uses his dying breath to tell her to be brave and strong.  As he passes on, it’s soon revealed that the baby was responsible for smiting him.  Not only that, but he was actually Shang Tsung.  Kitana then blames herself for what just happened before she promises to make him pay.  However, Shao Kahn emerges to deny her vow.

From there, the tale ends as Kitana fully remembers those horrid moments and realizes that she’s not Shao Kahn’s true daughter.  Reptile tells her that this false knowledge has been what’s protected her, but she argues that it’s actually protected him as he uses her steel fan to slash his chest.  Afterwards, Shao Kahn arrives as he admits to putting a spell on her that made her forget who she was.  From there, he also decides to explain some further details that weren’t in the book.  Even though he was able to mold Kitana’s mind to his will, he wasn’t able to tame her spirit.  As she grew up, she became a lethal combatant.  However, Shao Kahn was always bothered by a lingering thought of whether her fighting skills came from him or her true father.  He ultimately knew that she would never be truly his and as such, he had a pair of loyal servants create a clone of her called Mileena.  He even says that she’s not aware of that fact.  While she’s a skillful fighter, he calls her an “imperfect” & “flawed” clone and that while he’s able to trust her, he can never fully love her.

Afterwards, Kitana tells him that maybe Mileena knows more about herself and that she is the emperor’s true daughter.  However, Shao Kahn tells Kitana that she’s the daughter that he really wants and that he refuses to let her go.  Kitana then tells him to kill her, but he simply knocks her out with his eye beams.  We then shift ahead to a few moments later as he brainwashed her again.  From there, he tells Reptile to seal off this hallway and never let anyone down here ever again.  Not only that, but he wants the book destroyed.  As Shao Kahn carries Kitana off, she wearily wakes up and asks him what happened.  He tells her that she had a dream before he tells her to rest and promises to keep her safe from harm.  From there, the comic ends with the revelation that Mileena had overheard everything as she get teary-eyed over the truth.

Following the franchise’s initial high-point with 1995’s “Mortal Kombat 3”, its two updates with “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3” & “Mortal Kombat Trilogy” and a successful theatrical film, the overall series began to enter a shaky period.  From this initial era of decline, we now focus on “Mortal Kombat 4”, released in the arcades on October 15, 1997.  Built from the ground up on the Zeus hardware and initially promoted via a road tour, it was the first 3D entry and was also the first to implement weapons combat into its system.  While it would come out on home consoles the following year, the Sega Dreamcast would get an exclusive update with “Mortal Kombat Gold” in 1999.

Speaking of the initial home consoles, that’s where this WildStorm-published entry comes into play.  “Mortal Kombat 4 Limited Edition” was originally obtained via pre-ordering a copy on either the Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64.  It would even get bundled with the PC version as well.  As for the comic, series co-creator John Tobias came up with the story while Ted Adams handled the main writing duties and Ryan Benjamin took care of the pencil work.  So what sort of harrowing peril will be brewing from a being’s divine wrath?   Let’s get in the ring once again and find out.

We open in the kingdom of Edenia where it’s been freed from Shao Kahn’s rule following his defeat.  In her attempts to rebuild her land, Queen Sindel has brought the imprisoned Reptile in so that he can pay for his traitorous acts.  She sentences him to spend the rest of his life working within the Cobalt Mines of Shokan before he gets taken away.  Afterwards, she’s met upon by the Ambassador to New Realms, who’s accompanied by his daughter named Tanya and a group of hooded figures.  They tell Sindel that another realm is getting “oppressed by an evil ruler” before she allows a hooded man to explain his situation.  He says that he comes from a realm known as Treche and that it was peacefully known for its arts.  Two years ago however, an evil sorcerer named Shil Kaad conquered their land and enslaved its people.  Sindel says that she’s never heard of Shil Kaad before she asks why she’s never heard of the land of Treche, to which the man says that they’re “a quiet people” before he presents her with a glowing orb that will let her see what her heart desires.  She starts to become entranced by it, to which the guy then utters how this is going to plan.

We then shift over to the city of Kuatan as Kitana is attempting to end a bitter land feud between the Shokan and the Centaurians.  She tells them that they must cease their war and bring about a time of peace.  One Shokan figure says that he’ll agree to the terms, as long as the Eastern Lowlands are returned to his people.  However, a Centaurian refuses since they were promised that land by Shao Kahn.  Kitana says that Sindel doesn’t hold any promises towards the vile emperor and that all races should be allowed to live in their homelands.  Unfortunately, the Centaurian says that she’s no better than Shao Kahn as he attempts to attack.  Suddenly, he’s met upon by Goro who was secretly watching this meeting from the rafters and knocks the being over with a single punch.  He then says that he’s not dead, but he’s been in hiding ever since he lost his title of Mortal Kombat champion.  He’s refused to work with Shao Kahn since then and he’s now returned to take his father’s place as the ruler of his people.  As such, he demands for this war to end as the Centaurian agrees to hand over the Eastern Lowlands.

Just as some peaceful progress is being made, they suddenly hear a loud boom as they realize that it came from Edenia’s capital city.  Back over there, it turns out that the orb had created a portal and it has allowed the disgraced Elder God named Shinnok to escape from the Netherealm.  He arrives alongside Scorpion, Reiko and a massive group of demons as they defeat the royal guards before they overwhelm Sindel.  Afterwards, a fiendish spellcaster named Quan Chi welcomes him to this realm before he mentions that his presence was aided by the traitorous help of Tanya.  Shinnok now has his sights set on usurping the Elder Gods.

Several days later over on Earthrealm, Kuai Liang has reached the Ancient Temple of the Elements over in China.  He then recalls a past moment where his older brother Bi-Han informed him about the building.  Specifically, it’s where Shinnok’s sacred amulet is being held and that it’s what’s supposed to keep him in the NetherRealm.  In the present, he came here to make peace with the Elders Gods that were guarding the temple, but they’re somehow missing.  Suddenly, he spots something falling from the sky as he heads over to investigate.  Meanwhile and not too far away from Sub-Zero’s location, Liu is sparring with a fellow Shaolin warrior named Kai.  After he gets defeated, Kai says that he’ll never get as good as him, while Kang tells him to be one with his spirit before he can tap into his inner strength.  Just as a pair of monks arrive to inform Liu that his grandfather wishes to see him, they suddenly notice something falling out of the sky and smashing into the ground.  Kang tells them that he and Kai are investigating the crash site as they head over there.  They soon discover a group of demons looming over them and with a figure at their mercy.

We then cut over to Shanghai where Sonya is fighting Jarek, who’s also the lone remaining member of the Black Dragon.  Within the narration, we learn that Lt. Blade has since left the U.S. Special Forces and is now a member of the Outerworld Investigation Agency.  She’s currently on a mission to capture every last Black Dragon member, but Jarek is able to smack her around before he leaps off the building and reaches his motorbike.  Sonya tries to take aim and shoot him, but she gets interrupted when Jax contacts her.  He informs her that their agency has discovered some interdimensional fluxes over in Southwest China.  Since she’s their closest agent, a helicopter has been sent to bring her there.  Once it arrives, she soon discovers that Johnny is also on board.  She soon learns from (presumably) the pilot that Mj. Briggs allowed Cage to take part in the mission, “as long as he doesn’t touch anything”.  Back with Liu and Kai, they’re fending off the demons as they protect the fallen figure.  However, they soon find themselves surrounded.  Thankfully, Raiden arrives as he smites the opposing figures with some lightning.  He then informs Kang and Kai that those demons serve Shinnok and that they were attempting to harm the Wind God named Fujin.  It turns out that this Elder God fell from the Heavens while protecting his fellow beings’ palace from Shinnok’s assault.  Fujin then explains that it was a major sneak attack that began when the devious Elder God entered Edenia.  Liu wants to head there in order to help Kitana, but Raiden says that they must regroup with a coordinated attack.  For now, he’ll head back to the eternal palace alongside Fujin in order to confront Shinnok’s forces.  While they do that, he wants Kang to gather as many warriors from his realm as he can.

Shortly afterwards, he and Kai are met upon by the arrival of Sonya and Johnny.  After some proper introductions, Lt. Blade informs Liu that she no longer works for the U.S. Special Forces and that she’s now a member of the Outerworld Investigation Agency, which was formed following Shao Kahn’s recent defeat.  After learning what Kang and Kai had just witnessed, she and Cage also find out that they’re going to Edenia, since the Elders Gods were attacked by Shinnok.  Afterwards, Sub-Zero arrives as he confirms Liu’s account.  He then mentions that his older brother had a previous encounter with the fiendish Elder God and that he must be brought down.  With the group united, Kang then wonders how they’ll get to Edenia.  Fortunately, Sonya and her agents have a special device that recreates interdimensional portals via a built-in nuclear generator.  Upon her use of the device, our group proceeds to enter the gateway.  And so, the comic ends with them arriving in Edenia, only for it to be conquered as they’re met upon by Quan Chi.

Before we get to our last featured comic for this article, we need to do some fast-forwarding on the franchise’s history.  MK4 became the last arcade release for the series and was mainly well-received.  However, that’s when things began to tumble as a whole.  “Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero” and “Mortal Kombat: Special Forces” were less-than-stellar spinoffs, “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” became an infamous cinematic sequel that kept the franchise off the big screen for 24 years and “Mortal Kombat Advance” was an Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 port that was a poorly developed handheld mess.  Thankfully in 2002, the franchise began to turn things around as Shang Tsung and Quan Chi formed a “Deadly Alliance” that saw them not only kill off Shao Kahn, but Liu Kang as well.  2004’s “Deception” saw the return of Outworld’s original ruler named Onaga the Dragon King as he looks to form the Kamidogu in order to lay waste to all realms.  Finally, 2006’s “Armageddon” sees a new warrior named Taven finding himself in the middle of an all-out war between good and evil as all past characters will fight their way to the top of a pyramid, with Blaze standing between them and full-on Armageddon.  For the eighth mainline game, a near-bankrupt Midway Games would collaborate with DC Comics and the end result was 2008’s “Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe”.  In that game, Raiden was using his lightning powers to blast Shao Kahn out of Earthrealm and into a portal.  At that same time, Superman was using his Heat Vision on Darkseid in order to cast him into a Boom Tube.  Both fiends would get merged into a new entity called Dark Kahn while both universes would merge with each other.  As such, a certain group of MK fighters & DC characters must stop this new foe and separate their worlds, all-the-while dealing with these new “rage” outbreaks that pop up during battle.

As for the game’s tie-in book, “Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe: Beginnings” would be released alongside the game on November 16, 2008.  Specifically, it was packaged within the “Kollector’s Edition” version.  John Vogel would serve as the writer, while series co-creator John Tobias not only handled the cover art, but also dealt with the interior pencils.  So, how does this entry handle itself as Midway’s final mark on the franchise?  Let’s merge inside and find out.

We open with the creation of Dark Kahn as he struggles to grasp his various “disjointed” and “fragmented” memories, due to the events that led to him coming into existence.  After he finally gets himself together and creates a small planet containing the rements of both Outworld & Apokolips, he sees two different universes being bound to one another.  He then reaches out to claim those worlds before he starts shooting off vast energy from himself.  From there, he pounds the ground and exudes his power towards both worlds.

Soon enough, figures from both Earths are feeling this surging energy as they begin to pop up on each other’s planets.  Soon enough, Kano finds himself in Gotham City and crossing paths with Barry Allen a.k.a. Flash.  Over in Outworld, Kitana is with a search party and trying to locate missing people.  Suddenly, she gets consumed by Dark Kahn’s rage and ends up attacking her own group.  Not only that, but this newfound rage causes some heroes like DC’s Captain Marvel and Raiden to fight each other.

Both worlds continue to collide as Wonder Woman & her fellow Amazons fend off an invasion by Shang Tsung and an army of Tarkatan warriors.  Within the Fortress of Solitude, Superman goes into battle against Sub-Zero.  Elsewhere, Sonya, Jax, Baraka and Liu Kang end up fighting Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke and Green Lantern respectively.

And so, the comic ends with Batman in the middle of a tussle with Scorpion.  Dark Kahn then exclaims that with each battle fought within Mortal Kombat, he’ll get one step closer to absolute conquest.

Overall, this was an eclectic collection of comics to help contribute towards this franchise.  The two collector’s edition comics were fascinating expansions that narratively made sense with the first two games.  Tobias crafted these stories with delicate care and made sure that they lined up with what was going down in those initial entries.  Not only that, but they’re complimented by a nice one-two punch of good artwork and pacing.  If you’re able to find these two for a decent price, then these would make for a neat addition and would also make for a light read.  As for Malibu’s first go-around with the series in “Blood & Thunder” and the first Tournament Edition comic, the additions that it made to the franchise mythos were fascinating, even if they don’t amount up to a whole lot by the end.  Sing & Sang becoming the unified fighter named Siang feels like someone who should’ve been originally created for the games, thus giving him a chance to get properly fleshed out over the years.  It would’ve also be interesting to compare and contrast him with Liu Kang on a deeper level in order to understand their motivations & self-drives that lead them throughout the tournament.  Same thing with the Lin Kuei ninja named Hydro.  Had he also been created for the game, it would’ve been fascinating to see how his development would’ve differed alongside Sub-Zero.  I’m sure that his outfit would’ve been a darker shade of blue alongside some outfit modifications to help him stand out with any development that he could’ve received.  As for the Tao Te Zhan, it does hook the reader with its powerful potential throughout the series.  While that is the biggest thing that this initial run has going for it, there are a few things about it that’re ultimately bogged down and prevented from having its full potential reached.  One is where Shang Tsung decides to put the tournament on hold while he initially tries to unlock its power.  It would’ve helped if he tries to work his way towards its vast might within the shadows while the tournament was still going on.  That way, it would’ve created a ticking time bomb of sorts where as he gets closer to unlocking it, the tournament would be reaching its zenith.  Once we get to Outworld, then we start making some serious progress on the Tao Te Zhan as it keeps getting bounced around to each fighter and also keeps getting its riddles answered.  It’s not until the Tournament Edition that Goro is able to acquire this power for himself.  However, we never get to see the true terror that he could’ve unleashed past beating up several noteworthy fighters, since Shang Tsung and Raiden briefly join forces to strip Goro of his added power.  Even still, I wonder if this moment lingered in the back of Ed Boon’s mind when he worked on “Deadly Alliance” and “Deception”.  After all, Shang Tsung would eventually work with someone else in order to accomplish a goal of some kind.  Either way, our central heroes and villains still acted within their own unique characterizations and progressed as naturally as possible.  Despite a few hiccups, it was still a nice start for Malibu Comics.  As for Goro’s three-part side-story, it does deal with a different take on him working for a powerful being.  Zaggot does try to tempt him onto his side with the promise of his powerful seat, but he doesn’t take the necessary time that would be needed in order to let Goro get comfortable with being alongside him.  Not to mention, Goro has his own personal code that helps him avoid a potentially doomed team-up.  While a multi-chapter attempt to woo Goro onto his side would’ve helped in making this an introspective look at our Shokan warrior, what personal traits he presents throughout the series works pretty well.  Also, it integrates some certain MK II characters effectively, thus allowing them to make the transition into the mainline story once it’s all set-and-done.  In the end, this side-story presents its narrative, character moments and action neatly enough for it to work.  As for “Battlewave” and the second Tournament Edition, it somewhat felt like a scattershot take on the second game in the franchise.  Due to the massive cast of characters that this series has to juggle around, Shao Kahn’s plans aren’t made entirely clear until the second half when he decides to use Sonya (instead of Sindel like in Mortal Kombat 3) as his means to automatically conquer Earthrealm.  As for our heroes who’re looking to stop him, I can forgive the Earthrealm-based figures since they’re coming from their own positions in life in order to put an end to the emperor’s plans once and for all.  However, I would’ve expected some kind of progressive arc for Kitana and her group of freedom fighters.  Maybe they could’ve gained some kind of valuable lesson or skill that would help them in their mission.  As it stands though, it somewhat feels like a bunch of stuff that happens.  Despite some narrative woes, our main characters are still enjoyable throughout their journeys, Bo makes the most of his time while he tags alongside Liu Kang and Siang gets some further development that makes sense.  While Bo is serviceable during the second Tournament Edition, Siang gets an underwhelming end since his demise by Scorpion’s hands makes him a tragic character that’s exclusive to these comics.  While the main story is decent overall, the three backup stories do add an additional flavor to the overall narrative.  Goro’s return is brief yet fierce, Sub-Zero sets himself up to he saved and Johnny & Sonya get a special moment together, especially since they do eventually end up as a couple as the series progresses.  In the end, these seven issues may lack some strength in its narrative, but they make up for it with an energetic flow, some decent action and mainly comprehensive artwork that should make for a nice reading experience.  With “U.S. Special Forces”, it does present a more grounded situation on Earthrealm that has just enough built-in absurdity in order to make it uniquely wholesome.  Sonya gets to take charge and shines the brightest out of her entire team.  Sure, the short length of this series doesn’t allow her to have any significant arc.  Fortunately, she makes up for it with a commanding presence, a determined attitude and strong leadership.  While Jax is somewhat short-changed due to him getting kidnapped for a good portion of the story, he still tries his best to be as significant as he can throughout the proceeding tale.  As for the rest of their group, they serve their jobs in a respectable way.  Vapor is the closest who gets any kind of development, yet none of them get much of a chance to stand out on their own aside from Mikka and Torque.  As for the villain, he’s an original creation and doesn’t leave much of an impact outside of this series. Yes, it would be hard to make him memorable when there’s not much of a storyboard to work with.  However, he doesn’t have much presence outside his group.  By the end, this two-part is a light and breezy read that should suffice any M.K. fan looking for a small-scale tale.  With “Rayden & Kano”, the depection of this unusual partnership starts off fairly well.  There’s some uneasiness between these two characters and the legend that helps motivate the Black Dragon mercenary into this partnership is short, yet effective.  When Kano initially get separated from Raiden, he does start to show some of the goodness that he’s been repressing throughout the majority of his life.  Once he gets to Shao Kahn however, that’s when this mini-series goes downhill.  First off, these two having a secret off-panel meeting to wreak Raiden’s plan felt cheap.  Second, the Ebbonrule getting easily destroyed as a part of this heal-turn ultimately made that set-up pointless.  Finally, the last part is essentially one big fight scene between Raiden & Kano, ultimately ending with the latter using his last kind act to save the Thunder God, yet rendering the whole story mostly pointless with seemingly nothing getting accomplished.  After all, Kano winds up in Shao Kahn’s hands as they revert back to “Battlewave”.  While the pacing was decent, the action was tense and the narrative was comprehensive, this was ultimately among the weaker entries put out by Malibu and is only recommended for those who wish to complete this overall story, as well as for those who’re curious.  In terms of Baraka’s one-shot tale, it’s fascinating to see this vicious warrior be forced into looking after a child.  Not only that, but his solo journey sees him learning a lesson about the value of teamwork.  The personal and low-scale stakes worked for this story as Scorpion was nicely handled as the central villain of this piece.  Also, it was somewhat surprising seeing Noob Saibot here as well.  His noble nature would make sense, especially since it would be later revealed in “Deception” that he’s actually the original Sub-Zero.  However, he’s still technically a bad guy at this point in the series’ history since he does work for Shao Kahn in MK3 and UMK3 before he goes on to work for Shinnok in MK4.  Maybe Ed Boon and company read this comic and got the idea to make the original Sub-Zero into this character for “Deception”.  Either way, he’s nicely used here and doesn’t usurp attention away from Baraka.  Backed by some nice artwork, neat action and a compelling tale, this allows a Tarkatan fiend to have his noble moment while making as much use of his solo spotlight.  For Kung Lao’s singular story, this was another personal tale that builds off of what came from Malibu Comics before.  His father’s past and the shame that he’s had to live with are still relevant to him.  Shang Tsung ultimately forces him to confront this on a physical, emotional and psychological level during the issue-long struggle.  By the end of this and through the help of his father, he’s able to mentally work through his ordeal and move on towards the fight for a better tomorrow.  With nice artwork, good action and decent pacing, this is more of an uplifting story that should satisfy the character’s fans, series’ fans and comic fans in general.  As for Kitana & Mileena, this is Malibu Comics’ biggest attempt at delving into a character’s backstory.  With the exception of a few minor details (such as Shang Tsung who actually created Mileena), this is pretty spot-on with their origin from the games.  While Kitana struggles to be free from the life that she was forced into, Shao Kahn does all that he can to control a piece of his world that he’ll ultimately never contain.  This is hands-down the most narratively compelling entry and it’s backed up with solid artwork, nice pacing and a few moments of good action.  While they’re only the second and third females of the franchise, this tale is among the top of its class.  For MK4’s mini prequel comic, it does feel like a proper set up to the events of its game.  All of the selectable characters from that entry are shown in some capacity, with most of them getting more to do than the others.  It does highlight the advancements that some of the characters have reached, such as Sonya and Jax being in a brand new team that deals in dimensional perils.  As for some of the newer fighters like Kai, Fujin and Jarek, their roles, statuses and sides in the eventual conflict were nicely laid out.  Topping it all off, the book is presented with good artwork, fairly nice pacing and some effective scuffles.  As a comic that lays the groundwork for what’s to come, it serves its job and should fulfill its reader in an adequate manner.  Finally, we have the multiversal setup between Mortal Kombat and DC.  With it being narrated by the game’s antagonist, it was an interesting choice with depicting two different worlds in rising friction with each other.  While it mainly shows various conflicts occurring as a result of Dark Kahn’s attempt to claim both realities as his own, it’s still a breezy read for anyone and should make for a unique historical piece that’s attached to a game whose influence would lead to the Injustice series that we have today.  Well, even though we’ve reached the end of Midway’s time with the property, we’re not yet done with the franchise’s dip into comics.  Come back for Part 2 where we remain focused on a single game and see how DC handles a 12-part tie-in towards a certain entry.  Until then, may you share friendships over fatalities.

Mortal Kombat (created by Ed Boon & John Tobias) is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.