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MAD Spy vs Spy: An Explosive Celebration
MAD Magazine's iconic Spy vs Spy comic strip--now in full color!
One of the most celebrated comic strips in MAD's history has a deceptively simple concept: twin spies, one clad in black and the other in white, outdoing each other in elaborately stupid plots to achieve the other's demise. Now, for the first time, MAD is colorizing the best of the original Spy vs Spy adventures and presenting these classic strips with a new modern look.
Bonus material created exclusively for this book includes new interpretations of the Spy characters by acclaimed artists--including Frank Miller, comic writer-artist and blockbuster filmmaker, and Nathan Sawaya, internationally recognized Lego artist--and a biography in comic-strip form of Spy vs Spy creator, Antonio Prohías, by award-wining MAD artist Sergio Aragonés.
Additional special features include dynamic charts and graphs to deconstruct and quantify which spy has "won" the most through the comic strip's volatile history, the most popular weapons and ploys used in the strip, means of death, and more, plus a beautifully printed endpaper featuring David Anson Russo's interactive maze, where readers can play as either white or black spy.
One of the most celebrated comic strips in MAD's history has a deceptively simple concept: twin spies, one clad in black and the other in white, outdoing each other in elaborately stupid plots to achieve the other's demise. Now, for the first time, MAD is colorizing the best of the original Spy vs Spy adventures and presenting these classic strips with a new modern look.
Bonus material created exclusively for this book includes new interpretations of the Spy characters by acclaimed artists--including Frank Miller, comic writer-artist and blockbuster filmmaker, and Nathan Sawaya, internationally recognized Lego artist--and a biography in comic-strip form of Spy vs Spy creator, Antonio Prohías, by award-wining MAD artist Sergio Aragonés.
Additional special features include dynamic charts and graphs to deconstruct and quantify which spy has "won" the most through the comic strip's volatile history, the most popular weapons and ploys used in the strip, means of death, and more, plus a beautifully printed endpaper featuring David Anson Russo's interactive maze, where readers can play as either white or black spy.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 31, 2021
We didn’t have middle schools then, but that was the age when I discovered Mad Magazine and Spy vs. Spy. I looked forward to it with each (irregular) edition. This compilation of 150 Spy vs. Spy strips created its original artist, Antonio Prohias, is the main feature of this work. These are said to be 60% of his output.
The book begins with a 26 panel biography of Prohias. A three page illustrated description of how colorization was applied to the original black and white strips follows. Interspersed throughout the book are 5 “Galleries” of posters for the strip submitted by contemporary artists. For contrast, the most recent incarnation of the strip is shown by samples of the work of Peter Kuper.
The strip takes you back to a more simplistic era. The spies appear as adversaries intent on killing the other in slap stick style gags. The tools are round bombs, Rube Goldberg contraptions, false floors, ceilings and walls, and a shapely woman who games both at the same time. Sometimes the spy in black flashes the “V”; sometimes it’s the spy dressed in white. Pages 114 – 115 give statistics on issues such as how often "top secret" satchels appear, how often clubs are used as weapons and the average number of stars that crown the loser of the episode (the black spy averages 20 and the white spy 12 - I'll let this statistic speak for itself).
The posters are a mixed bag. The most effective evoke the era; those that mix in today’s superhero imagery don’t seem fit to purpose.
I was wondering how the colorization would work and was glad to see that it actually enhanced the strip by making it visually more appealing.
Those tasked with creating a commemorative volume did a five star job. Unfortunately, the source material is dated and dull. While I see how these strips appealed to young people (like me) in the 1950’s, they do not wear well.
The book begins with a 26 panel biography of Prohias. A three page illustrated description of how colorization was applied to the original black and white strips follows. Interspersed throughout the book are 5 “Galleries” of posters for the strip submitted by contemporary artists. For contrast, the most recent incarnation of the strip is shown by samples of the work of Peter Kuper.
The strip takes you back to a more simplistic era. The spies appear as adversaries intent on killing the other in slap stick style gags. The tools are round bombs, Rube Goldberg contraptions, false floors, ceilings and walls, and a shapely woman who games both at the same time. Sometimes the spy in black flashes the “V”; sometimes it’s the spy dressed in white. Pages 114 – 115 give statistics on issues such as how often "top secret" satchels appear, how often clubs are used as weapons and the average number of stars that crown the loser of the episode (the black spy averages 20 and the white spy 12 - I'll let this statistic speak for itself).
The posters are a mixed bag. The most effective evoke the era; those that mix in today’s superhero imagery don’t seem fit to purpose.
I was wondering how the colorization would work and was glad to see that it actually enhanced the strip by making it visually more appealing.
Those tasked with creating a commemorative volume did a five star job. Unfortunately, the source material is dated and dull. While I see how these strips appealed to young people (like me) in the 1950’s, they do not wear well.
October 13, 2015
A beautiful tribute! I've always loved Spy vs. Spy, and having this hardcover collection (in color!) is certainly a great addition to my library!
January 12, 2025
I read this at 47 and it just didn't hit the same as it might have at 10. I wanted to like it and my inner child wanted to like it, but it was just o'k. The jokes, the traps, and the scenarios felt flat to me this time around. I suppose one's sense of humor changes and matures.
March 26, 2017
Cuando era joven, la revista MAD era mi refugio seguro porque era demencial de buena manera. Es la clase de locura que te mantiene cuerdo.
Lewis Black
Lewis Black
August 9, 2017
How can anyone get thru life without the occasional dose of Spy vs Spy? It's therapeutic.
February 8, 2021
As a child, I got a MAD magazine every month, and the Spy vs. Spy comic was my favorite. I always enjoyed following the visual story with no words to determine which spy was going to meet their unfortunate fate. This was a lovely tribute in which these comics were colorized for the very first time. They truly came alive on the pages.
April 30, 2022
Spy vs. Spy was important in forming my sense of humor. I looked forward to the monthly Mad magazine adventures of the black and white spies. I even bought a few Spy compilations at our local used book store. I still like the strips, but I realize why Mad didn’t publish issues of ONLY these strips.
December 6, 2022
Hardcover, 250+ pages, featuring newly colourised versions of Antonio Prohías’s classic Cold War espionage gag strip (plus newer material by Peter Kuper and one-off Spy vs Spy illustrations by various artists). A beautiful collection, though somewhat overpowering when taken in large doses.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews