Hickman keeps making this alternate vision of world events weirder and more awesome. The tone shifts from funny but serious in the first 5 issues to bleak and dour. The change in setting, from the United States to Soviet Russia is the culprit. Moving from the stereotypical optimism of even insane Americans to the world-beaten pessimism of Russians makes perfect sense. As a Russian history specialist I loved the looks at secret Soviet cities and the dimness of Yuri Gagarin. Great writing and characters will make this my pick of the week until something drastic changes.