Digitized live-action graphics defined Mortal Kombat in its seminal incarnation, but many of the series' most iconic characters began life as design sketches by franchise co-creator John Tobias!

This weekend Tobias will discuss klassic digitized characters at San Diego Comic-Con [full story], but the talented artist also recently shared a mix of MK drawings from more recent eras! These include character sketches of Reptile and Liu Kang, as well as uncolored pencils from the official Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe comic book!

Thanks to the efforts of Doc Mack and all the folks at Galloping Ghost Arcade, the very first Kombat-Kon has come and gone! The two-day event was a huge success and will hopefully spawn future gatherings for mortals across Earthrealm, and other domains as well!

Cinema's fractured white knight Harvey Dent warned, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." It's the perilous reality every long running video game franchise faces, sooner or later. Some series rise to the challenge, enjoying the vigour of reinvention. Others smash face-first into the pounding surf as they descend steeply from their wayward trip across the proverbial shark's back.

This week on Retronauts, the evergreen podcast tackled the subject of When Games Jump The Shark. You'll be shocked and appalled to hear Mortal Kombat among the list - but the Retronauts are taking the good with the bad.

Have you ever wondered where they come up with all those crazy finishing moves? Boy, I know I sure have! IGN tackled the subject from another perspective when they spoke to series co-creator Ed Boon, asking him what his Top 5 Favourite Fatalities are! Check it out:

Before the announcement of Mortal Kombat X, minds were understandably narrowed on the events of Mortal Kombat 4. The plot of the first three games was retold by Mortal Kombat (2011) -- heavily implying the next in sequence with a story mode cliff-hanger schemed by MK4 antagonists: Quan Chi and Shinnok.

Much remains a mystery about the plot of the 2015 sequel, or how the new history of MK2011 will play-out across MKX's 25 year timeline. The grim predicament left by a slaughter of heroic mainstays could force some surprising twists, but this isn't exactly unchartered territory. The worst outcome has always been a presented option for MK - as forewarned by a tradition of hypothetical arcade endings.

From sequel to sequel, it's typically been the heroes whose possible outcome is made canon. Over the course of Deadly Alliance and the sequels that followed, we learned it was mostly the MK4 heroes' endings that had a role to play in shaping the on-going saga. Liu Kang was victorious for a fourth consecutive event - defeating fallen Elder God Shinnok; Raiden was briefly appointed Elder God; Lt. Sonya Blade survived Jarek's aggressions, and Scorpion discovered the truth behind his spectre's curse - plunging Quan Chi into a dogged pursuit through the Netherrealm.

As Mortal Kombat Online continues to shift some of its extensive video archive to YouTube, we revisit the past of MK4 to ponder what would've happened if it all went horribly wrong. At a glance, MK4 proposes two realities -- the one we've experienced, and a darker alternative where heroes perished and evil won. Could this alternate ending influence the course of MKX? We'll find out April 14, 2015.

When you consider the importance of comic books to the history of Mortal Kombat -- it's a wonder there haven't been more of them!

Beginning in 1994; now defunct publisher Malibu Comics served a catalogue of interconnecting mini-series inspired by the hit games. Since then, the pickings have been slim. There have been official comic book tie-ins related to key game releases, but even a crossover with DC Comics -- and subsequent acquisition by DC parent company: Warner Brothers -- has failed to turn up any significant progress.

The success of Injustice: Gods Among Us and its comic book tie-in has led to a flood of requests for Kombat comics. News of an impending new Mortal Kombat game [full story] may be the catalyst fans have been waiting for -- but in the mean time, those hungry for four-colour Kombat may find refuge in an obscurity published back in 1998.

Our substantial South American readership may already know the material well, but for a vast majority of fans, the mere existence of a 4-issue mini-series based on Mortal Kombat 4 has gone completely unknown!

The subject was raised by MKOmmunity User GusLan back in 2009 -- and since that time, Mortal Kombat Online affiliate and former staffer ]{0MBAT has been on a grail quest to uncover the mysteries of the little known series. At the end of last year, he completed the series, and with the help of User Zentile, has translated it into MK's native language of English [read more]. Published in Brazil in 1998 by Trama Editorial; the series is primarily written by Rogério Saladino [of Panini's localized Marvel Comics] and drawn by Eduardo Francisco.

By his own admission, the John Tobias of twenty years ago had no idea he was creating one of the most successful franchises to come out of American gaming. As a young artist in Chicago, Tobias had big ideas, envisioning a fiction that endures to this day (in some shape or form), but the journey to 1992's breakout hit -- Mortal Kombat -- would take more than ideas.

Together with Ed Boon, Tobias holds the credit of co-creator of Mortal Kombat -- an acknowledgment that goes beyond the arcade and home consoles, to result in a massive multi-media phenomenon spawned from ideas and characters!

In Part 1 of our conversation with John Tobias, he took us through some of the early influences that helped shape the series to follow. From abandoned name choices, props and influences, to movie references and guest stars, the games origins are there to scrutinize.

In this second part of our twentieth anniversary retrospective, we continue the conversation, entering the explosion of Mortal Kombat into other mediums, and addressing the final chapter of Tobias' time with the series before his departure in 1999.

Modern Prometheus: John Tobias confronts Goro - brought to life for the 1995 film.

We're not entirely sure what it is, or exactly who's responsible, but this manga-infused Quan Chi artwork (found and shared by Michael McWhertor) was too good to ignore!

In kinder, gentler times, children would gather each and every Easter Sunday, enjoying the simple pleasures of an annual hunt for chocolate eggs. These days, you probably more readily identify the tradition of "Easter Eggs" by pop culture's appropriation of hidden extras, and nestled nuggets of reference.

Mortal Kombat has made legendary use of easter eggs, milking a rich canon for hints and allusions, sometimes going so far as to hide kombatants themselves, deep within the game. At the beginning of the week, we talked about the impossible characters who existed in rumor and foolery [full story], but this Easter, the Mortal Kombat Online staff have crammed The Nexus to pick our Top 10 Secret Kharacters!