CIA Spooks, Mad Magazine, and the Comic Relief of Spy vs. Spy

 

How Spy vs. Spy Helped CIA Operatives Laugh Through the Cold War

     Who knew the CIA and Mad Magazine had something in common, right? But it turns out, during the height of the Cold War, Mad’s infamous Spy vs. Spy cartoon strip did more than just entertain teenagers and young adults—it provided a little comic relief for our very own CIA spooks! I mean, when your day job involves playing mental chess with the KGB, you probably need a laugh. And what better way to unwind than watching two beak-nosed spies blow each other up in ridiculous fashion?

     Here’s the backstory: Antonio Prohías, a Cuban cartoonist who had to flee his homeland after Fidel Castro accused him of—wait for it—being a CIA spy, turned that wild accusation into a lucrative venture. Prohías came to America and hit it big when he started drawing those two iconic spies, one in black and one in white, locked in a never-ending battle of wits, sabotage, and booby traps.

     That’s how Spy vs. Spy was born in Mad’s January 1961 issue, and it quickly became one of the most beloved features in the magazine.

     The strip became especially popular with CIA officers. Why? Well, for starters, it hit close to home. During the Cold War, these intelligence agents were neck-deep in a shadowy world where they constantly fought against Soviet spies. 

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      Watching the Black Spy and White Spy continually try—and fail—to outsmart each other probably felt all too familiar. The cartoon’s simple humor was a welcome break from the high-stakes espionage these agents were involved in, and it gave them a chance to laugh at the absurdity of their own situations. I imagine a few CIA officers might have even had a quiet chuckle at the thought of how eerily accurate Spy vs. Spy was to their own operations.

     There’s even an archived CIA file from 1977 titled “Psychological Assessments,” where agency employees shared their thoughts on Mad Magazine and its cartoon. At one point, the joke was about the CIA’s new Director, Stansfield Turner. The joke got so much attention that the CIA’s Assistant for Public Affairs, Herb Hetu, was informed about it. That’s right, folks—Mad Magazine was on the CIA’s radar! Who would’ve thought?

     Prohías’s background made him uniquely qualified to pen a Cold War parody like Spy vs. Spy. After all, he had firsthand experience with political oppression. Castro’s regime accused him of working for the CIA, and he had to flee to the United States in 1960, three days before the Cuban press was nationalized. Talk about a close call. But instead of brooding over it, Prohías turned Castro’s paranoia into sweet, sweet revenge: a highly successful comic strip that made fun of the very concept of spies and espionage.

     One of Prohías’s best lines came when he told the Miami Herald, “The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel’s accusation of me as a spy into a money-making venture.” And boy, did he do just that. Not only did Spy vs. Spy become iconic in the pages of Mad, but the characters also made their way into video games, TV shows, and action figures. Not bad for a couple of cartoon spooks who never utter a single word!

     Prohías drew 241 Spy vs. Spy strips until he passed the torch to other artists in 1987, but the essence of the original series remained the same: a relentless back-and-forth of espionage, where neither spy could ever truly win. Kind of like the Cold War itself.

     So, if you’re ever wondering what kept those undercover CIA spooks sane during the intense days of tangling with the KGB, it wasn’t just the caffeine and classified briefings. Nope, it was Spy vs. Spy giving them a reason to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Imagine them, covertly flipping through Mad Magazine, grinning at Black Spy and White Spy’s ridiculous antics before heading back into their own cloak-and-dagger missions. Who knew Mad had a seat in the CIA breakroom?

     And let’s be honest—maybe you’ve imagined yourself as a spy too. Sneaking around in a trench coat, trading witty one-liners with your enemies, and pulling off the perfect sabotage. Well, while the real CIA agents were dealing with life-or-death stakes, they probably found a little comfort in knowing that somewhere, two cartoon spies were blowing each other up in the most comical way possible.

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and the author of the "Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster" spy thriller series. Check out his latest spy thriller, Misson of Vengeance.