Customer Reviews

Spy Vs. Spy 2: The Joke and Dagger Files

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4 star:		(2)
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The spies are at it again in this second collection of strips. Starting where Prohias left of, the spies continue their mishaps, but under the direction of a few different artists and writers. Included are also the short lived Sunday strips, a couple Spy vs. Spy Jr., Inputs from Kuper, Abrams, and Shayne, and a couple of Prohias strips.

First, the strips done by Edwing, Clarke, Manak, and some random others.
These three stayed pretty close to the style which was of Prohias. Edwing usually did the writing, while Clarke and Manak did the art. Edwing's writing, w/ the exception of the airport strip, were pretty good as it was simple yet complicated, which fit the spies well.
The art for Clarke I actually liked as it the lines were strong and crisp. Manak's style was not too far off of being like Prohias' style, which was good.

Second, was Peter Kuper, who took over the strip in the late, nineties and has been doing so since. His style was sought after as MAD was apparently going for a new look, and Kuper's was it. At first, he does black and white, but then goes to color. Now, I'm not saying he's the worst, as he is very talented, but, I don't believe that he captured the spies the best. I know that the editors were looking for a new look and apparently the fan base increased because of him, but I'm just not drawn fully into it. The previous artists' view of violence was simple, where as Kuper's was more extreme w/ blood, brains, eyeballs, and the such. When he went into color, I thought it took it away that much more. Having something from black and white into color doesn't necessarily improve it (ex. 3 Stooges), also with the different shades and gradients of the colors, it took too much attention away from the spies (they were black and white after all).

The Sunday strips are nice to look at even though it was short lived. Edwing and Manak did these,which was nice. And, even though they were in color, it was done to where it was simple and not overpowering to where it works.

All in all, this book is well worth it if you're a spy fan, old or new. Now, I just hope they put the paperbacks into a collection.

If you are a fan of Mad Magazine then there's simply no way you cannot be a fan of Spy Vs. Spy. Created by Cuban cartoonist Antonio Prohias, the strip has been a fixture in Mad Magazine since 1961. The political cartoonist fled his homeland in 1960, just before Dictator Fidel Castro took over the Cuban papers. Prohias retired from the strip in 1988 and passed away ten years later, but his creation has lived on in the capable hands of new cartoonist who have even brought the strip to greater heights be producing it in color Sunday newspaper strips, video games, as well as getting their own animated commercials for Mountain Dew.

This 320 page, oversized trade paperback features the work of the men who took over for Prohias, first the team of writer Don "Duck" Edwing and artists Bob Clark and Dave Manak, followed by artist/writer Peter Kuper, the current force behind the strip. In addition to presenting hundreds of Spy Vs. Spy strips, the book featured a short biography of Prohias, and interview with Kuper, and several other short features.

While Edwing and his partners continued to produce the strip in much the way that it had been for nearly 30 years, Kuper came in with an entirely new look. Contrary to what many may think, Kuper doesn't achieve his look through airbrushing. In fact, he actually explains his creative process in the book. While the grainy look may not have been immediately accepted by longtime fans, no one can deny the incredible influence that he's had on the characters and how the black& white spies have continued to flourish under his watch. In 2001, Kuper began doing his Mad strips in color, giving it a complete different look. Perhaps it was Kuper saying that the world of spies simply is no longer black & white...or maybe he just wanted to do them in color.

In 2002, Spy Vs. Spy became syndicated in Sunday newspapers, with story and art by Edwing and Manak. The strip ran for only 39 weeks, in part because some editors deemed it inappropriate in the case of Mid-East violence. Thankfully, Watson-Guptill has seen fit to reprint all 39 of those strips in this edition. It's a wonderful book and one of the most legendary strips ever.

reviewed by Tim Janson

Watson-Guptill Publications and MAD Magazine presented the first SPY VS. SPY: THE COMPETE CASEBOOK to much acclaim, and fans of the first will want its sequel, SPY VS. SPY 2. It packs in observations from a political cartoonist and includes over 200 color and black and whit cartoons, including the original Sunday newspaper comic strip written by Edwing and Manak - the complete run of which appears here for the first time under one cover. It's a `must' for any Spy Vs. Spy fan.

Kuper, Adams, and Shayne are following the the footsteps of greatness, and they're overshadowed by Prohias. Don't get me wrong, they're very good, but they're trying to continue the body of work begun by a distinctive and unequalled artist. It would be very hard to move out of the shadow of someone who had a death sentence from Castro's Cuba.

Despite this, they do a passable job, and continue the tradition of the black, white, and occasional grey spies better than anyone else could. Peter Kuper added a distinctive style of colored strips, but the others remained true to Prohias' black and white representation of the Black and White spies. Kuper's got an interesting style, but I'm not sure it's the best for these iconic characters.

It's a worthwhile addition to the Spy vs Spy legacy, but it is not the work of the master.

E.M. Van Court

Just as hilarious as the first one! Absolutely excellent! Came really quickly in the mail, about three days, and in perfect condition.

great stuff if you love Mad magazine. i enjoyed reading the history of the comic and it's Cuban creator.

Something somehow was richer in character about Prohias's many Black Spy vs. White Spy cartoons in Mad Magazine and this make me think he was really the best of the Mad artists to tackle this subject (maybe times were just better in the 60's than in the late 80's-2007, the period this book covers) still I much like the many original ideas the later generations of Mad artists came up (like the two page in-color caveman one in this book).

This item arrived in amazingly good condition and very quickly. Thank you so much!

I purchased the Spy vs Spy2 book as an Xmas gift for my 12 year old son. He receives Mad magazine. He always loves to show me the Spy pages. He loved the book so much, he just ordered the first Spy vs Spy book. His best friend also spent a good deal of time pouring over the pages at his last sleepover. We hope you continue to keep these products available.