After Sergio Aragones' cartoons, Antonio Prohias Spy Vs. Spy pages were my favorite feature in Mad Magazine. I loved the Rube Goldberg-esque deathtraps that they would set for one another and the fact that neither Spy ever maintained the upper hand for long. I remember they had a bunch of animated Spy Vs. Spy segments on the first few years of Mad TV, those were pretty cool.
"Crime stopper's Handbook"! I grew up reading Dick Tracy in the Chicago Tribune. Good stuff! The '70's were wacky with all the sci-fi stuff - before Star Wars.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I've never seen Dick Tracy so "Mad."
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I went through my Mad Magazine phase from about '73 to '76. I have to say, Ross, that this cover is worthy to appear in Mad Magazine during that era.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Spy vs. Spy I loved Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side of...", Al Jaffe's fold-in back covers and "Snappy Answers to Stupic Questions", anything by Sergio, the movie and TV satires by Mort Drucker and Jack Davis (among others) and, of course, the cartoons of "Mad's Maddest Artist" Don Martin. This cover brought all those happy memories flooding back....
You did Alfred E. Neuman proud!
I liked the Spy vs Spy vs Spy strips where the female gray Spy entered into the fun.
ReplyDeleteLike Sonofjack, I read Mad in the '70s, though I only picked it up occasionally; and I fondly remember all of the features on the above list. It's a pleasant surprise to see the Spies on this blog; I was afraid that Captain Klutz would be the only Mad entry to be found.
ReplyDeleteNow we only need Alfred E. Neuman to show up -- perhaps under Batman's cowl, or Iron Man's helmet.
(In a similar vein, yesterday I was just musing and thought of: Snow White and the Seven Soldiers of Victory!)
The only problem with using Alfred E. Neuman is that, via MAD covers, he's already teamed with just about everyone!
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about it, the more I can actually see this cover being featured inside an issue of Mad under the title "Comic Book Covers We'd Like to See".
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Boo! That was the worst pun ever.
ReplyDelete@Carycomic:
ReplyDeleteUndeniably so (lol!).
I could see the Spy vs. Spy guys fitting into Tracy's Rogues Gallery quite nicely, along with Flattop, Pruneface and the Brow for example.
ReplyDeleteRoss, this is true genius! Insane, stark raving genius! One might hope for a sequel with Spy 3 and Tess Truehart, or some other spinoff with Spy 3 (Carmen Sandiego? Madame Hydra? The possibilities are delicious!)
ReplyDeleteYou keep rocking, sir. You just keep on rocking.
Thankls guys! Wait, there was a third, female Spy? I never knew that.
ReplyDeleteI loved it!
ReplyDeleteRoss, there is a gray woman:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/18/8a/5b/188a5bbc8a3d978963acc9966958cb04.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/37/91/fc/3791fccd994643ed30ebcecc802398c1.jpg
Ross said...
ReplyDelete"The only problem with using Alfred E. Neuman is that, via MAD covers, he's already teamed with just about everyone!"
The obvious team-up would be with Marvel's Irving Forbush, alias 'Forbush Man'... although the latter should also meet Ambush Bug, because he is named Irving as well...
^_^
"(In a similar vein, yesterday I was just musing and thought of: Snow White and the Seven Soldiers of Victory!)"
ReplyDeleteTHIS.
I second that motion! Rescuing a wronged princess in distress would especially be right up the Shining Knight's alley.