I remember reading the original Red Star trade paperback collection years ago; if I recall correctly, it was published then by Image Comics. It's not anymore, now it's published by Archangel Studios, which both forgets to put a price anywhere on this comic book, and lists the publisher's city of residence in the indicia as "North Hollywood, Clifornia." (No one proofreads most comic books anymore.) Because this is the third issue of a series apparently recounting "the origin story of the Red Star saga," I am late to the proceedings, having not read anything since that initial collection many years ago. I remember that it contained many full-page images of people and machinery, the people shouting, or grim, and the machinery large. Having read this new issue, I recall now that at least some of the machines use human souls as fuel.
This latest issue is a good example of how not to do comics in the era of the ascendant graphic novel. As readers increasingly wants complete stories bound up in a real book with a spine (i.e., graphic novels vs. floppy monthly-style comic "books"), it behooves those who continue to publish "floppies" to make sure that the story within a single issue is both comprehensible and satisfying as a story. It can be part of a larger tapestry, but it shouldn't alienate readers who didn't pick up the previous issue. Red Star: Sword of Lies #3 is alienation from beginning to end, incomprehensible, unexplained events affecting unknown and unknowable characters in ways we never even begin to care about.
Coming in to the universe of The Red Star this late in the game, with little interest in the previously established stories and even less in the origin of how they got there, I have to confess that clearly The Red Star: Sword of Lies #3 is not the funnybook for me. Like someone with no interest or background in Freemasonry walking into a ceremony for experienced devotees of that tradition, I have no idea what is happening and can only note that everyone involved seems very committed to their work, although no one seems to be devoting any time whatsoever to making sure outsiders can understand or appreciate what is going on.
The Red Star seems to be some sort of sci-fi pastiche/homage to the days of the Soviet Union. I have no idea if prime mover Christian Gossett was born there, or if his family is from there, or if he just thinks soviet-style costumes and saying "Komrade" a lot are just super-cool. From the available evidence, it could be any of those things, but there's so little to go on that I am forced to guess. I am sure one could craft brilliant historical fiction or historically-informed science fiction based in some way on the events or legends of Eastern Europe and its peoples. The Red Star: Sword of Lies in no way reflects that possibility. I apologize if Mr. Gossett has a genuine, profound and/or personal interest in the Soviet era, its people or symbols. If he does, I wish any of that translated to these comic books, which seem overblown, self-important, impenetrable, and deadly dull.