A modern retelling of 1984, set not in some distant future but rather as a reinterpretation of our current moment. It is as if the magic x-ray glasses advertised in the back of the comic book actually worked, but when we put on Mike's x-ray glasses, instead of seeing through ladies underwear, we are able to see through the American dreamstate to view the abominable distopia beneath. Mike shows us that the horrors are not really hidden, opening each chapter, the morning paper and the evening news trumpet the decay and herald our demise.