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| “ | You are about to meet Black Spy and White Spy – the two MADdest 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. | „ |
| ~ Info on the Spies from "The All New Mad Secret File on Spy vs. Spy". |
The Spies (real names: Joke and Dagger) are the titular main protagonists of The Spy vs. Spy franchise, a comic-strip series created by the late Cuban cartoonist Antonio Prohías.
Appearance[]
Both are seen to be identical, as they have long beak-like heads and eyes with white pupils and black sclera. They also wear the same type of clothing: long brim fedora hats, trenchcoats, pants, and shoes, although one is dressed in white and the other in black instead. While the Spies are commonly seen with their hats, they do have hair.
Personality[]
White Spy[]
He is able to think cleverly and respond to Black Spy's antics quite well, although sometimes he can be defeated.
Black Spy[]
Black Spy appears to be far less serious as a spy than the White Spy is, wanting to just mess with the White Spy, rarely tries to steal top-secret files, and even in one comic embarrassed the White Spy by making a white toilet in the shape as the White Spy's head.
Biography[]
First debuting in Issue #60 of the MAD magazine in 1961, the pair are always at constant war with each other, using a variety of booby-traps to inflict harm on the other, and also coming up with increasingly sophisticated ways of doing away with each other. The spies alternate between victory and defeat with each new strip, with the Black Spy, usually winning and the White Spy losing, or vice versa. In some occasions (in the comics only), the two are both defeated at the hands of the Grey Spy, who used their coincided deep infatuation for her as an advantage to get the upper hand.
In the 2010 television adaptation of the magazine, the plot formula remained the same as in the comics. However, the visuals for the early skits originally started with 2D animation until it was switched to stop-motion animation for the rest.
Trivia[]
- In the 2010 TV series MAD, both spies in total claimed victory fifty-one times, one of their feuds resulting in a draw.
- The spies made a brief cameo appearance in the Family Guy Season 8 episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us", where they apparently become friends.
- In early comics, the Spies had simple black pairs of shades.
- The spies are said to be modeled after El Hombre Siniestro ("The Sinister Man"), another character created by Prohías.