Spy Vs. Spy was not like anything anywhere else. The distinctive and singular artwork of Antonio Prohias made this regular feature a must read, though "read" ain't quite the best word. Like Henry in the Sunday funnies, the Spy Vs. Spy strip was pantomime, a silent ballet with all the essential information needed to get the gag communicated silently through the spare sharp drawings. As the two Spies attempted to foil one another endlessly we were treated to a lovely and astonishing dance of danger and death and all to make us laugh.
Produced in the era of extreme political tensions between East and West, this strip poked a hole in the pomposity which often attached itself to that geopolitical struggle and reduced all those endless speeches, proclamations, and maneuvers to a singular struggle between two equally absurd antagonists. The point of Spy Vs. Spy is that no one ever won, not for long anyway. Those days felt like that sometimes.
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If I recall, Mad would have two Spy vs. Spy stories in each issue; the black spy won in one, the white spy in the other. For a while, there was a female spy - and she always won.
ReplyDeleteProhias fled Cuba when Castro took over. Good thing, because he drew political cartoons there.
Spy Vs. Spy speaks to the particular time in which MAD thrived, a time when folks lived under the shadow of impending war, a war which might end human existence. And still we laughed...still we laugh.
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My favourite!
ReplyDeleteGreat choice!
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