| Creator: | Antonio Prohías |
| Current: | Peter Kuper (in full color: 1997–2021, one-off in 2022) |
| Author: |
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| Status: | Ended (as of 2022) |
| First: | Mad magazine #60 (Jan. 1961) |
| Publisher: | DC Entertainment |
| Genre: | Political satire Humor |
Spy vs. Spy is a wordless comic strip published in Mad magazine. It features two agents involved in stereotypical and comical espionage activities. One is dressed in white, and the other in black, but they are otherwise identical, and are particularly known for their long, beaklike heads and their white pupils and black sclera. The pair are always at war with each other, using a variety of booby traps to inflict harm on the other. The spies usually alternate between victory and defeat (sometimes both win and both lose) with each new strip. A parody of the political ideologies of the Cold War, the strip was created by Cuban expatriate cartoonist Antonio Prohías, and debuted in Mad #60, dated January 1961.[1] Spy vs. Spy is currently written and drawn by Peter Kuper.
The Spy vs. Spy characters have been featured in such media as video games and an animated television series, and in such merchandise as action figures and trading cards.
Antonio Prohías was a prolific cartoonist in Cuba known for political satire. He fled to the United States on May 1, 1960, three days before Fidel Castro's government nationalized the last of the Cuban free press.[2] Prohías sought work in his profession and traveled to the offices of Mad magazine in New York City on July 12, 1960, with the strips, which he said he had created specifically for the magazine.[3] After an initial rejection but ultimately a successful showing of his work and a prototype cartoon for Spy vs. Spy, Prohías was hired.[4]
Prohías cryptically signed each strip on its first panel with a sequence of Morse code characters that spell "BY PROHIAS". In a 1983 interview with the Miami Herald, Prohías reflected on the success of Spy vs. Spy, stating, "The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel's accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture."[4] Prohías was censored by Mad magazine publisher William Gaines on at least one occasion: the strip that eventually appeared in Mad magazine #84 (January 1964) was altered to remove scenes where the spies drink and smoke (Gaines had a strong anti-smoking stance).[4]
Prohías evolved his drawing style over the years, making the spies' heads proportionately larger by 1964. In 1965, he began to experiment with not drawing frames on the spies' shades, and this became a consistent trait from late 1966 on, so that the characters' eyes appeared to have no sclera—just very large pupils, all black except for reflective glints. But when a spy was caught in an explosion, sometimes his fully drawn shades would fly along with other items such as hats, boots, and dentures. In the 1980s, overhanging lips were common.
Prohías completed a total of 241 Spy vs. Spy strips for Mad magazine, the last one appearing in #269 (March 1987).[4] After that he drew gag strips for the titles (such as one involving radioactive waste in #287) and wrote several stories for Clarke or Manak to draw, with his last such contribution in #337 (July 1995).[5]
The strips continued, with writer Duck Edwing and artist Bob Clarke creating the majority. Their strips are identifiable by Clarke's drawing style, but signed "'C/e", or "'C/p" in the Prohías-written cases. Some were largely uncredited, simply being signed "M&S" (Mad #335) or "M&e" (Mad #352).
Peter Kuper took over as the full-time writer and artist for the strip with Mad magazine #356 (April 1997). In 2001, Kuper began drawing it in full color when the magazine made its switch from black and white art. With Mad reverting to a reprint format, Kuper's second-to-last Spy strip appeared in issue #18 (the magazine had moved to Burbank, California in 2018, adopting new numbering starting with #1). That Spy cartoon was three pages long, and showed the spies progressing through millennia: evolving from the sea, as Greek pottery, as dueling knights, and ultimately as the only two survivors of a nuclear holocaust that they had caused. They agree to stop fighting, and walk off together arm-in-arm into the shattered ruins of civilization. He returned in 2022 for the 70th Anniversary issue -- issue #28, which he confirmed would be the last time he would be drawing the strip.[6]
Black Spy and White Spy (or "Man in Black" and "Man in White") – Wearing wide-brimmed hats and dressed in overcoats, both Spies have long pointed faces. They are identical, except for one being entirely in white and one entirely in black. The Spies were modeled after El Hombre Siniestro ("The Sinister Man"), a character Prohías created in the Cuban magazine Bohemia in 1956.[7] Like the Spies, he wore a wide-brimmed hat and overcoat and had a long, pointed nose. Prohías described the character as someone who "thought nothing of chopping the tails off of dogs, or even the legs off of little girls" and stated he was "born out of the national psychosis of the Cuban people."[4] 'El Hombre Siniestro bore a strong resemblance to the Spies—although, instead of fighting against a set rival, he simply does horrible things to anyone he can find.
The cover copy of The All New Mad Secret File on Spy vs. Spy provides early insight to the characters and Prohías' views on the Castro regime and the CIA:
A gag panel in Mad magazine #122 (Oct. 1968) established Black Spy as a member of the "East." He gets trapped by a White Spy, who is guarding the border to the "West." There is otherwise no indication in the series that Black Spy is pro-communist or White Spy is pro-capitalist.
Grey Spy (or "Woman in Grey") – She debuted in Mad magazine #73 (Sept. 1962) (the strip was temporarily renamed Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy). Grey Spy's appearances are sporadic, but she always triumphs by using the infatuations of Black Spy and White Spy to her advantage. Prohías explained, "The lady Spy represented neutrality. She would decide on White Spy or Black Spy, and she also added some balance and variety to the basic 'Spy vs. Spy' formula."[4] Grey Spy's last appearance under Prohías was Mad magazine #99 (Dec. 1965); she did not appear again until 1988, after Bob Clarke and Duck Edwing took over the strip. Peter Kuper also used her occasionally.
Leaders – They are the barrel-chested, medal-decorated bosses of Black Spy and White Spy, who give them tasks and punish them for their failures. The Leaders were phased out when Peter Kuper took over writing and illustrating the strip.
See also: Spy vs. Spy (1984 video game) and Spy vs. Spy (2005 video game).