
Cuban Cartoonist Fled from Castro and Created 'Spy vs. Spy' - sohkamyung
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-the-cuban-expatriate-who-created-spy-vs-spy
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wtbob
> Unable to continue finding work, and fearing for the safety of his fellow El
> Mundo workers, Prohías, unable to speak a word of English, headed for New
> York.

It's important to note, for those whose only knowledge of the Cuban Revolution
is the iconic Che Guevara portrait, that 'fearing for their safety' didn't
mean Prohias thought his co-workers might be beaten up: it meant that he was
worried that they (and possibly their families) might be shot.

~~~
dghughes
Yeah I've read Che wasn't a fan of musicians and artists.

So many college students don't believe it.

And I guess the suits the two spies wears are suits popular in Cuba or the
time, it explains a lot.

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lettercarrier
Mad is wonderful.. Tom Richmond is one I learn to draw [0] Jack Hamm has the
best series, I think, to learn. [0]
[http://www.tomrichmond.com/](http://www.tomrichmond.com/)

~~~
vacri
I was most impressed by Mort Drucker's ability to make an instantly-
recognisable caricature with only a couple of lines in a small space. There
are actors in the background of movies whose names I've never known, but I
recognise in the background of his drawings.

~~~
gribbly
Yeah I agree that Mort Drucker was fantastic, I also had a fondness for the
more wacky style of Jack Davies and extremely wacky style of Don Martin, oh
and Sergio Aragones, damn they had so many great artists on that magazine.

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bni
Growing up during the 80s in Sweden, I, as many orthers, played the game on
the Commodore 64 a lot.

Until now I had no idea it was a comic strip originally :-)

~~~
sigcode
Until now I had no idea there was a game. :)

This comic strip is the second thing I visualize when I think of MAD magazine.

The first is the drawing of Alfred Newman's face.

It is interesting how different generations are seemingly cut off from
different sets of information about the same subject.

~~~
lips
When I'm on HN, I think of Donald Knuth:
[http://www.webofstories.com/people/donald.knuth/8?o=SH](http://www.webofstories.com/people/donald.knuth/8?o=SH)

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fredleblanc
Man I loved Spy vs. Spy. Anyone remember the official board game?
[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1686/spy-vs-
spy](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1686/spy-vs-spy)

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greenspot
My feeling is that Spy vs Spy got their popularity rather through the games
than through the comic strips in Mad. I loved the games on the 8- and 16-bit
home computer generation and with another human player they were a blast. But
I wasn't really that excited about the comic strips. They had their distinct
style which was definitely nice but I preferred stories from other cartoonists
in Mad.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
I'm confused. You think that a comic strip that's been popular since the '60s
owes it to a handful of video games made in the mid-'80s?

~~~
greenspot
Because of the huge reach of Mad they were popular before but they felt more
like mediocre filler content within Mad. Yes the style was distinct but the
plot was always the same and predictable. With the games they found their real
determination: the visual style, the always recurring topic of the spies
tricking each one into a trap--the games were the perfect media for Spy vs
Spy, way better than the strips.

And it was more than a handful of games. Spy vs Spy was a strong merchandise
running over many years with an unique and innovative gameplay then for many
platforms.

~~~
SideburnsOfDoom
> they felt more like mediocre filler content ... the style was distinct but
> the plot was always the same and predictable.

That describes almost any comic that has been going for over 20 years. That
doesn't make it bad, just played out. That it lasted decades at all indicates
something good about it.

