The review cycle has drifted back from the current digital releases, but be warned: the following article contains spoilers!

Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties continues with Chapter 4 - the first section of print issue #2, and Part 1 of digital story arc "Caged". Make sure you follow links to buy the chapter from DC Entertainment before you continue!

Continuation is a topic very much in mind at the open of Chapter 4. If you read Chapter 3 [review], you know Raiden is dabbling in dangerous Kamidogu blood magik. If you know that, the reminder at the start of this chapter will probably seem continually ominous, but fairly unnecessary. We've spent a lot of time navel gazing over the virtues and foibles of digital versus print - this little curio makes you wonder how it'll read once collected for trade.

It's a lot of fun to see Fujin in action - even if it's just taking a gut wound from a protector god with a pretty sketchy record since the 2011 story reboot. The take away from this B-plot overlap is that big things are coming, but the real meat of this issue delivers us to two of the debuting Mortal Kombat X characters: Cassie Cage and Kotal Kahn.

Graphic designer cum sports fanatic ak47_studios has been mashing together logos from the top NBA franchises and their iconic video game counterparts. Viral sharing hub Aplus.com has 12 of their favourites, but it's the Oklahoma City Thunder logo that we're interested in:

IGN have the first look at the next instalment of DC Comics' digital series Mortal Kombat X! Chapter 4 officially hit digital platforms yesterday (Sunday), kicking off the next sequence of three that make up Issue #2 [solicitation]!

NetherRealm Studios are back in the 'rasslin business! The developer released the free fighting app WWE Immortals earlier this month - just in time for the annual Royal Rumble! We think it's such a swell game, we're celebrating with our own take on the WWE classic - and we need you to make it work!

We'll be asking "Who's Next?" when 30 Kombatants are drawn randomly at regular intervals to enter the first ever Mortal Kombat: Royal Rumble!

It will all go down tomorrow (Sunday) - with the Fan Koliseum deciding characters' fates by voting for eliminations on the forum, and boosting their chances via Twitter! Better still, every participating fan will go into the draw to win themselves a limited edition Mortal Kombat kollectible pin! Here's what you need to know:

Mortal Kombat - Royal Rumble Rules:
• 30 Kombatants will be drawn randomly to enter at regular intervals.
• The MK Royal Rumble will begin when #1 & #2 are announced.
• Each entrant will be announced via @MK_Online & the forum.
• Kombatants begin with 12 elimination points.
• For every 5 Retweets & 10 Favorites a Twitter entrance receives - the corresponding character will gain +1 elimination points. [Tallied during each subsequent entrance.]
• Fans will vote to eliminate active characters by posting to the forum.
• An elimination occurs when the voting tally exceeds a characters points total.
• Fans can vote for an elimination once per entrance: Points will remain subtracted, but a new entrance will grant users the right to vote again for any character they decide.
• Eliminations will give points to randomly assigned eliminators.
• There must always be at least 1 kombatant active.
• Kombatants remaining after the 30th entrant will be systematically eliminated based on their points and the total Retweet & Favorites received.
• In the tradition of the Royal Rumble - expect surprises! The 30 entrants will be drawn randomly from a total field of 85 characters!
• Prize winners will be notified within 48 hours.

He has watched over the Mortal Kombat tournament since it began - now the thunder god Raiden will join the battle on your shelf thanks to Pop Culture Shock Collectibes!

Lord Raiden is the latest addition to the Mortal Kombat Klassics statue line, recreating his fondly remembered Mortal Kombat II digitized design in deadly detail! Pre-orders begin January 19 (Monday), with standard and PCS exclusives to ship Q4, 2015!

Raiden is asking the question many fans have been thinking in a new, sub-titled screenshot featuring latest returning kombatant Kung Lao! It's the second screenshot released to the web, fuelling the mystery of how he survived a fatal neck fracture in the previous game.

Mezco Toys will usher in a new era for action figures starting with the release of the first wave of Mortal Kombat X toys! The initial line-up of Scorpion, Sub-Zero & Raiden was revealed at New York Comic Con [full story], and are now available for pre-order ahead of a May, 2015 release!

You can bet there'll be a whole lot of fighting words to go around when Mortal Kombat X ships in the coming year [full story]! It's all thanks to an extensive pre-fight intro system that sees kombatants taunt, warn and threaten their opponents with personalized dialogues. The latest intro from NetherRealm Studios pits godly veteran Raiden against impetuous newcomers Ferra/Torr. Check it out below:

DC Comics' digital-first Mortal Kombat X series hasn't even begun publication yet - but it's already been bumped to a twice-monthly publishing schedule, starting February!

Solicitations for DC's Beyond The New 52 block reveals print versions of the 2015 series will begin the increased schedule with issues #2 & #3. This follows the strategy of NetherRealm game tie-in Injustice: Gods Among us -- an alternate DC Universe series that instantly established new benchmarks for digital-first publications!

MORTAL KOMBAT X #2-3
Written by SHAWN KITTELSEN
Issue #2 art by DEXTER SOY
Issue #3 art by IGOR VITORINO
Covers by IVAN REIS
#2 on sale FEBRUARY 11
#3 on sale FEBRUARY 25
40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • DIGITAL FIRST
Now shipping twice monthly! In issue #2, Scorpion and his newest companion set off in deadly pursuit of Raiden! Meanwhile, as the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, Cassie Cage thinks she’s seen it all. But when she finds herself in an illegal MMA deathmatch, Cassie must decide if she’s ready for her first taste of Mortal Kombat!
Then, in issue #3, as the civil war in Outworld rages on, Kotal Kahn suffers an unimaginable loss and enlists the power of the Kamidogu to avenge his fallen ally. But will blood magic make Kotal powerful enough to take down Outworld’s champion? Enter: Goro!

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE #9
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art by BRUNO REDONDO, MIKE S. MILLER and others
Cover by NEIL GOOGE
On sale FEBRUARY 4 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
The new Deadman tracks down The Spectre but makes a shocking discovery. Meanwhile, Trigon launches an attack on Superman, and not even the power of Wonder Woman is enough to help. Plus, the identity of Superman’s secret protector is revealed. DC Comics February 2015 solicitations

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE #10
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art by BRUNO REDONDO, MIKE S. MILLER and others
Cover by NEIL GOOGE
On sale FEBRUARY 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
A world-shattering magical battle is under way, involving some of the most powerful beings in the universe. Batman, Constantine and the Birds of Prey launch a full out assault on Swamp Thing and his allies. And Batman has a final good-bye with the last person he’d expect

Mortal Kombat Online is thrilled to support a new kommunity initiative called The NetherKast! The audio discussion series is a fan roundtable covering multiple facets of Mortal Kombat X and the series as a whole! The cast is completely free and can be listened to via YouTube: