Characters
The cover copy of the 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 (who were constantly attempting to oust Castro):
| “ | You are about to meet the black Spy and the white Spy — the two MADest spies in the whole world. Their antics are almost as funny as the CIA's...When it comes to intrigue, these guys make it way outtrigue. They are the only two spies we know who haven't the sense to come in out of the cold. But they have a ball – mainly trying to outwit each other. | ” |
The comic strip always features two spies, who are completely identical save for the fact that one is dressed in white and the other black. The pair are constantly warring with each other, using a variety of booby-traps to inflict harm on the other. The spies usually alternate between victory and defeat with each new strip.
In Mad magazine #73 (Sept. 1962), the strip was renamed Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy, as it was the debut of a third spy, the Grey Spy (or the "Woman in Grey") . The Grey Spy only appeared sporadically, but always triumphed, using the infatuation of the Black and White spies to her advantage. Prohías stated "The lady Spy represented neutrality. She would decide for the white or black Spy, and she also added some balance and variety to the basic 'Spy vs. Spy' formula." The Grey Spy's last appearance in the magazine comics under Prohías was Mad magazine #99 (Dec. 1965); she did not appear again until Kuper took over the strip.
Read more about this topic: Spy Vs. Spy
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“My characters never die screaming in rage. They attempt to pull themselves back together and go on. And that’s basically a conservative view of life.”
—Jane Smiley (b. 1949)
“Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga—stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Of the other characters in the book there is, likewise, little to say. The most endearing one is obviously the old Captain Maksim Maksimich, stolid, gruff, naively poetical, matter-of- fact, simple-hearted, and completely neurotic.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)