Spy vs. Spy
| Spy vs. Spy | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Antonio Prohías (1961–1987) Duck Edwing (1993–1997; 2002) Peter Kuper (in full color: 1997–2021, 2022, 2024–present) |
| Current status/schedule | Ongoing |
| Launch date | Mad magazine #60 (Jan. 1961) |
| Publisher(s) | DC Entertainment |
| Genre(s) | Political satire Slapstick comedy |
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. Spy vs. Spy has been written and drawn by Peter Kuper since 1997. Following budget cuts and Mad switching to a reprint format, the strip briefly ended in 2021 following issue #18 of the magazine (which had rebooted back to issue #1 in 2018). It returned for issue #28, the 70th anniversary issue, and then returned permanently with issue #40 in 2024.
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.