(True believers! There’s a puzzle in the below review—revealed in the last sentence! Can you find it??? There’s a hint right after that parentheses there on my left.) I think I ought to do without JMS for awhile. I’ve been following the four part Red Circle arc for awhile now, writing on three of the four on ifanboy while trying to bring unique take to each review: one a rant, one a ballad, and one now a puzzle. I once had great hope for the concept, the rebirth of the action oriented portion of the Archie line. The work the writer had done prior to the Red Circle indicated a predilection for finding a new and gripping idea hidden in every corner of our beloved three colored, poly-paneled world. Like I’ve noted in a prior review, I’ve long been a fan of the writer, right through to the recent Thor run. Unfortunately, the actual experience of reading the work left any I hope I had for a good or even great title unfulfilled. In the end The Red Circle, carried the rank of a third rate effort. Reading the final chapter only reinforced the above opinion. The chapter followed the pattern we’ve grown to expect in the Red Circle: a generic origin tale, lacking any novel take on either the power or character of a “newly” brought to life hero. In the title, our central character received a nano-tech outfit after being wounded in a battle while at war abroad. The new outfit granted the character a new life and a new charge. A patriotic hero, capable of leveling a tank with only a punch, our central character now can take on the evil people throughout the world who continue to threaten our country. Of note, the chapter featured fairly average art, unlike all the prior work done on Red Circle, which featured fairly poor art. All in all, I’d give the chapter a rating of “fine”, elevating it above each chapter that had been printed before it—each of which earned a rating of pretty dang not fine. But “fine” never convinced anyone to congratulate a writer with the talent of the writer of the above title. Our criteria ought to be higher. Now, for a talented writer like the writer of the above title, the allure to be content with the banal can be overpowering, for they can expect the reader to forever buy what they write. Therefore we the collective reader need to explain to a writer like that that we do not buy the work of the writer due only to the credit box at the front of the title. We expect better: a better exploration, a better character build, a better tale. Forever challenge your ability; if you keep challenging to your ability, you will find great reward. And I know a challenge can be annoying; it can be quite difficult. But once in a while you have to think out of the box; if not we will all learn to do without JMS—just like I wrote the above review without the letters “J”, “M”, or “S”.