Spy vs. Spy
Encyclopedia
Spy vs. Spy is a black and white comic strip
that debuted in Mad magazine
#60, dated January 1961, and was originally published by EC Comics
. The strip was created by Antonio Prohías
.
The Spy vs. Spy characters have featured in media such as animated
television series
, merchandise such as action figure
s and trading card
s, and video games.
in Cuba
and known for political satire
. Prohías' parodies of newly-installed Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
attracted criticism, and faced with the loss of work, possible arrest and threats of execution, he fled to the United States
on May 1, 1960 – 3 days before Castro took over the last of the Cuban free press
. Prohías sought work in his profession and travelled to the offices of MAD Magazine in New York City
on July 12, 1960. After a successful showing of his work and a prototype cartoon for Spy vs. Spy, Prohías was hired.
Prohías completed a total of 241 strips for MAD Magazine, the last appearing in Issue #269 (March 1987). During an interview with the Miami Herald in 1983, Prohías reflected on his career, stating "The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel's accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture." Ironically, Prohías was censored by MAD Magazine publisher William Gaines
on at least one occasion. The strip that eventually appeared in MAD Magazine #84 (Jan. 1964) was altered as the Spies were depicted as drinking and smoking, and Gaines had a strong anti-smoking stance.
Prohías eventually retired due to ill health, and died aged 77 on February 24, 1998. The strips continued, with writer Duck Edwing and artist Bob Clarke creating the majority. As of MAD Magazine #356 (April 1997), Peter Kuper
took over as writer and artist for the strip.
Pulitzer Prize
-winning author Art Spiegelman
noted that "Getting published is very important to a young cartoonist, and I somehow have Antonio Prohias to thank for helping kick off my career."
(who were constantly attempting to oust Castro):
The comic strip always features two spies
, who are completely identical save for the fact that one is dressed in white and the other black. The pair are constantly warring with each other, using a variety of booby-traps to inflict harm on the other. The spies usually alternate between victory and defeat with each new strip.
In MAD Magazine #73 (Sept. 1962) the strip was renamed Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy, as it was the debut of a third spy, the "Lady in Grey" (or the Grey Spy). The Grey Spy only appeared sporadically but always triumphed, using the infatuation of the Black and White spies to her advantage. Prohías stated "The lady Spy represented neutrality. She would decide for the white or black Spy, and she also added some balance and variety to the basic 'Spy vs. Spy' formula." The Grey Spy's last appearance in a Prohías strip was MAD Magazine #99 (Dec. 1965).
has expressed interest in directing.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
that debuted in Mad magazine
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
#60, dated January 1961, and was originally published by EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
. The strip was created by Antonio Prohías
Antonio Prohias
Antonio Prohías , born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, was a cartoonist most famous for creating the comic strip Spy vs. Spy for MAD Magazine....
.
The Spy vs. Spy characters have featured in media such as animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, merchandise such as action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s and trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s, and video games.
Publication history
Prohías was a prolific cartoonistCartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and known for political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
. Prohías' parodies of newly-installed Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
attracted criticism, and faced with the loss of work, possible arrest and threats of execution, he fled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 1, 1960 – 3 days before Castro took over the last of the Cuban free press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
. Prohías sought work in his profession and travelled to the offices of MAD Magazine in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on July 12, 1960. After a successful showing of his work and a prototype cartoon for Spy vs. Spy, Prohías was hired.
Prohías completed a total of 241 strips for MAD Magazine, the last appearing in Issue #269 (March 1987). During an interview with the Miami Herald in 1983, Prohías reflected on his career, stating "The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel's accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture." Ironically, Prohías was censored by MAD Magazine publisher William Gaines
William Gaines
William Maxwell Gaines , better known as Bill Gaines, was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically important line of mature-audience comics...
on at least one occasion. The strip that eventually appeared in MAD Magazine #84 (Jan. 1964) was altered as the Spies were depicted as drinking and smoking, and Gaines had a strong anti-smoking stance.
Prohías eventually retired due to ill health, and died aged 77 on February 24, 1998. The strips continued, with writer Duck Edwing and artist Bob Clarke creating the majority. As of MAD Magazine #356 (April 1997), Peter Kuper
Peter Kuper
Peter Kuper is an American alternative cartoonist and illustrator known for his autobiographical, social, and political observations.-Early life:...
took over as writer and artist for the strip.
Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
noted that "Getting published is very important to a young cartoonist, and I somehow have Antonio Prohias to thank for helping kick off my career."
Characters
The cover copy of the The All New MAD Secret File on Spy vs. Spy provided early insight to the characters and Prohías' views on the Castro regime and the CIACentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(who were constantly attempting to oust Castro):
The comic strip always features two spies
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
, who are completely identical save for the fact that one is dressed in white and the other black. The pair are constantly warring with each other, using a variety of booby-traps to inflict harm on the other. The spies usually alternate between victory and defeat with each new strip.
In MAD Magazine #73 (Sept. 1962) the strip was renamed Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy, as it was the debut of a third spy, the "Lady in Grey" (or the Grey Spy). The Grey Spy only appeared sporadically but always triumphed, using the infatuation of the Black and White spies to her advantage. Prohías stated "The lady Spy represented neutrality. She would decide for the white or black Spy, and she also added some balance and variety to the basic 'Spy vs. Spy' formula." The Grey Spy's last appearance in a Prohías strip was MAD Magazine #99 (Dec. 1965).
In other media
- The Spy vs. Spy characters appeared in animatedAnimationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
cartoons on MADtvMADtvMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
and are in every episode of the animated adaptation of MadMad (TV series)MAD is an American animated sketch comedy series created by Kevin Shinick and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Based upon the magazine of the same name, each episode is a collection of short animated parodies of television shows, movies, games, celebrities and other media using various types of...
. - A Sunday stripSunday stripA Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
series (39 in total) was released in 2002, syndicated by Tribune Media ServicesTribune Media ServicesTribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
and featuring Duck Edwing and Dave Manak returning as writer and artist respectively. - A series of four strips (titled Spy vs. Spy Jr. and depicting the spies' antics as children) published in MAD KiDS MagazineMAD KidsMad Kids was DC Comics' spin-off of Mad.Between 2006 and 2009, there were 14 issues of Mad Kids, a publication aimed at a younger demographic. Reminiscent of Nickelodeon Magazine, it emphasized current kids' entertainment Mad Kids was DC Comics' spin-off of Mad.Between 2006 and 2009, there were 14...
in 2005-2006. - A "Spy vs. Spy" board gameBoard gameA board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
was released by Milton BradleyMilton Bradley CompanyThe Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States, and in 1987, it purchased Selchow and Righter,...
. - Three video gamesSpy vs. Spy (computer game)Spy vs. Spy was a game first published by First Star Software in 1984 for the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64 and Apple II computers. It was an innovative two-player, split-screen game, based on MAD Magazine's long running cartoon strip, Spy vs...
based on the strip have also been released.
Film
In June 2011, it was announced a live-action film based on the strip was being discussed. Ron HowardRon Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
has expressed interest in directing.