Within the large spectrum of media artists, authors, and other such related professions use to depict both current society and history, a commonly overlooked tool provides one of the best ways to convey meaning: satire. I cannot help but refer to the cinematic productions of famed satirist Mel Brooks. In the plethora of movies Brooks has produced over the years, bizarre comedic situations aim to mock and satirically comment on different aspects of societies, ethnicities, events, and people. This is almost indisputably a Western notion. The satirist uses an almost pessimistic outlook to critique and comment, exposing the follies and imperfections the truly lie within the given subject of discussion. However, the Soviet Union under Stalin inspired too much fear and deference for any one to use such things to depict Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union as the great illusion it was to many of the Soviet peoples. However, after shortly after Stalin’s death, some but not many found the courage to unmask the dissolution of this period in Russian history. Valerie L. Hillings wrote a great biographical piece on the Soviet artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid. These two artists embodied the satirical method I speak of to critique Stalin and Soviet Union. Appropriately making the decision to emigrate to anti-Soviet America, Komar and Melamid began making paintings that comically deride Stalin and his image as a great and monumental figure. Subtleties within their paintings encode a mockery of many false or exaggerated aspects of Stalin’s rule. In an almost ingenious strategy to artistically criticize Stalin, references to ruler’s and Empire’s of old are made. This is one of most effective tools Komar and Melamid use. For instance, in one of their most famous paintings “Stalin and the Muses,” the female Muse holding the hammer in one hand has her right breast exposed which is of course referring to Eugene Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People,” from the late 19^th century. Another example would be in “Stalin in front of the Mirror,” where they have him standing barefoot as the deceased Roman Emperors were depicted as a demonstration of their divinity which is in turn mocking Stalin’s effort to divinize himself. These comically creative allusions to deified rulers, emperors, and empires are one of the primary mediums upon which Komar and Melamid tear down Stalin and Soviet Union.