The 1950s were a time of old-fashioned apple pie American values. Women were back in the home, while the men who didn’t perish in World War 2 were out and about donning slick suits and even slicker hairstyles. However, there was still a war about, one fought purely to define these “American values.” Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare had Americans on edge about the rise of communism in Europe and Asia, especially in the growing power of the Soviet Union. But really, the Second Red Scare was a push back at anti-capitalist progressivism and a power grab by the U.S. government, who seized at the chance to instill a traditionalist patriotism in their citizens after the war. My artifact, a 1947 comic book cover of Is This Tomorrow?, depicts Soviet men attacking 3 Americans: one white woman, one black man, and one white man. In the background is a large burning American flag, representing the perceived threat of communist ideologies in the U.S. To further examine this piece, I’ll dive deeper into commonplace American ideals in the 1950s, as well as the rhetorical situation, and how the visuals connect with what the piece is attempting to convey. Overall, I aim to identify how this piece as well as the events and ideas its connected to has developed over time and overall how timely this work still is. This overall fear of communism and anti-capitalist ideologies is still an American commonplace, and it’s rooted in Red Scare propaganda and McCarthyism, which is best illustrated by this comic cover. American economic beliefs are an overall shut door, but exploring why that is can help one branch off from mainstream beliefs, and think outside government and popular ideologies. It’s more important to look at a concept in its development and understand how it became a commonplace than to just view a piece independent from a modern viewpoint. That is why I chose to focus on the Red Scare and the propaganda arising from it. Thank you.