[dc]I[/dc]t likely would not surprise anyone familiar with my sense of humor that I read a lot of MAD Magazine in my youth. I remember a long trip by plane, train, or automobile as a kiddo usually meant a new issue of MAD to keep me entertained.
Which, honestly, is probably the only practice from my early teens I should bring back in my 30s (although, I’m the one doing all the driving on road trips these days which makes reading a challenge).
I can still revisit the my love of MAD though, thanks to the Capital Area District Library—where I picked up a Spy vs. Spy comic collection last week.
The Spy vs. Spy comics featured in MAD Magazine were always some of my favorites (along with those by Sergio Aragones), and as a cartoonist I figured it never hurts to revisit old loves. I came across the collection, as I do many books at CADL, by wandering the stacks where the drawing, cartooning, and comic making books reside.
The collection gathers the work of creator Antonio Prohías. I doubt I read many, or any, of Prohias’ original Spy vs. Spy strips in my youth. Prohías stopped working on Spy vs. Spy when I was six years old and I probably first picked up a copy of MAD around age 10 to 12 (give or take), so I likely read the work of his successors.
Regardless of which strips I read,¹ I always loved Spy vs. Spy.
Now, as a cartoonist in my 30s, I love and appreciate the comic, and Prohías’ work, even more. The Spy vs. Spy comics are silent—something I experiment with—and feature great examples of cartooning fundamentals: simplify and exaggerate.
Add to that list other cartooning fundamentals, like line of action or body language, and Spy vs. Spy is a must read for any cartoonist.
And if Spy vs. Spy doesn’t interest you, just walk around the stacks of your library—you might find another treasure from the past, and don’t let anyone tell you adults should not read books, or comics, “meant for children.”
Read and learn. Read and learn.
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¹ I read old issues of MAD and different collections over the years, so it is possible I read a few Prohías comics. It would not surprise me if some of his old strips were rerun in later issues either.
