For those interested in an in depth yet accessible treatment of the NT and patristic traditions on the figure of ”Mark”, despite some of my disagreements one of the best critical overviews is by C. Clifton Black, Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter (Edinburgh: Augsburg Fortress, 2001 [first ed. University of South Carolina, 1994). Also on my reading list for the upcoming year is Thomas Oden’s The African Memory of Mark: Reassessing Early Church Tradition which has caught the notice of some bloggers (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here). From what I can see, the earliest and most reliable evidence presents Mark as one of Paul’s Jewish co-workers (Phlm 24; Col 4:10; cf. later texts 2 Tim 4:11; Acts 12:25; 13:5; 15:37, 39) and a specific association with Peter appears to me to be a later development (Acts 12:12; 1 Pet 5:13; Papias) (cf. my presentation at London SBL and San Francisco SBL). There are some even more interesting later legendary developments once Mark is identified as the evangelist, from writing in Rome at the request of Peter’s hearers to being the first bishop of Alexandria to having a physical deformity (stumpy-fingered).
[...] interacting with the developing traditions on the “evangelist” Mark (see here for further discussions on the evolving picture of [John?] [...]