I was reminded of the Spy versus Spy comic strip, which was a regular feature in Mad Magazine until it closed in 2018, while collecting material for the article about Don Martin.
The two spies were the creation of Cuban expatriate political cartoonist Antonio Prohias (1921 - 1998).
Two relevant anniversaries make this a suitable occasion for featuring these two strange-looking, vaguely birdlike, characters.
The first ever Spy vs Spy cartoon appeared in Mad Magazine issue #60 in early January 1961. Not only is this month the 60th anniversary of the spies' first appearance, today, January 17th 2021, is the 100th anniversary of Antonio Prohias's birth.
With some of his creations:
The two spies are agents on opposing sides.
One of the spies is black and the other white, but this doesn't mean that one is good and the other evil: they are equally bad. They are forever trying to kill each other.
They are said to be a metaphor for the Cold War; a Grey Spy representing neutrality made an occasional appearance in the strip.
The spooks' wicked little smiles and their never-ending attempts to trick, set traps for, outwit and destroy each other make the cartoons very amusing.
There are no words with the pictures; they speak for themselves. This is a classic example:
Danger! Intrigue! Stupidity! are some keywords associated with these characters. Here the two spooky saboteurs attempt to kill each other by poisoning the tea, but the cats drink it instead:
The cartoon strip was taken over by others in 1987 after Antonio Prohias retired for health reasons. It was produced in full colour from 2000 onwards.
The spies were used to make a political point in 2013, with President Obama as the Grey Spy:
The spies have inspired many products including board games, video games, models and cards. They have appeared in advertisements, a TV series and cartoon films. A big-screen adaption is planned.
There are several compilations of the cartoons available on Amazon and eBay, including this one:
Prohías was interviewed by the Miami Herald in 1983, where he said of Castro, “The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel’s accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture.”
He may no longer be with us, but his legacy lives on. Many others are now using the spies as moneymakers, including the sellers of these anti-coronavirus face masks:
