Rating: 
Summary: The Cold War is over, but someone didn't get the memo.
Review: As a reader of Mad for over 36 years, I am so glad to see an anthology of "Spy vs Spy". Antonio Prohias' dialogue-less, joyfully savage satire of the Cold War (and war in general), was always a favorite of mine. One spy gruesomely doing in the other, only to have him resurrected the next month (or a few pages later) to gleefully subject his counterpart to a savage Rube Goldbergesque death of his own (the precursor to Kenny in "South Park"?)
Included in this book are all the Spy vs Spy's ever printed in Mad, along with all the "Spy vs Spy vs Spy" strips, in which the gray lady spy always gets the best of her male counterparts, Prohias' work in Cuba (that got him a request to leave from Castro) as well as Prohias' other stips from Mad. While "Spy vs Spy" goes on in Mad, it's just not the same. The new strips are OK, but lack the Prohias touches such as the extended fingers (like Dr. Suess on acid). With Prohias,Don Martin and Dave Berg gone, we are losing the giants. Here for the ages is one of the reasons Mad Magazine is one of our country's great treasures.
Rating: 
Summary: ...vs. Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy...
Review: I always loved Mad Magazine, whether it was for its sometimes brilliant satires or just for its whacky zaniness. But Spy vs. Spy has always been my least favourite of its features. There is some creativity at first in its Rube Goldbergesque depiction of complex schemes involving cross and double-cross. However, try reading more than 5 of the strips in one sitting and the repetition of its themes becomes more and more unbearable.Perhaps it was a brilliant attempt at metafiction with the goal of illustrating the pointlessness of violence through its repetition, or an illustration of the nature of intelligence agencies whose sole raison d'etre appears to be to create and sustain their own enemies in order to perpetuate their existence (look up the histories of Reinhard Gehlen, Batista, the Shah of Iran, Air America, Bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein to learn how the CIA has contributed to the world). Or perhaps the total interchangeability of its characters belies the absurdity of the world's conflicts which are all rooted in meaningless trivialities (skin colour, religion, nationality, etc). However, having read reprints of some of Prohias' unsophisticated (albeit extremely courageous)political cartoons from when he was still a resident of Castro's Cuba, this would appear highly unlikely. Any one of Sergio Aragone's "marginal drawings" from Mad has far more contextual complexity than every Spy vs. Spy strip put together.
Rating:
Summary: ...vs. Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy...
Review: I always loved Mad Magazine, whether it was for its sometimes brilliant satires or just for its whacky zaniness. But Spy vs. Spy has always been my least favourite of its features. There is some creativity at first in its Rube Goldbergesque depiction of complex schemes involving cross and double-cross. However, try reading more than 5 of the strips in one sitting and the repetition of its themes becomes more and more unbearable. Perhaps it was a brilliant attempt at metafiction with the goal of illustrating the pointlessness of violence through its repetition, or an illustration of the nature of intelligence agencies whose sole raison d'etre appears to be to create and sustain their own enemies in order to perpetuate their existence (look up the histories of Reinhard Gehlen, Batista, the Shah of Iran, Air America, Bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein to learn how the CIA has contributed to the world). Or perhaps the total interchangeability of its characters belies the absurdity of the world's conflicts which are all rooted in meaningless trivialities (skin colour, religion, nationality, etc). However, having read reprints of some of Prohias' unsophisticated (albeit extremely courageous)political cartoons from when he was still a resident of Castro's Cuba, this would appear highly unlikely. Any one of Sergio Aragone's "marginal drawings" from Mad has far more contextual complexity than every Spy vs. Spy strip put together.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: i am a huge fan of spy vs spy so if you are to i recommend you get it.spy vs spy,that black and white spy refuge going on for over 4 decades.really funny,(no words)so people of all ages and backrounds can understand it.hilarious,watch the black and white spy seriously rip each other apart {: .And not to mention this book is huge so don't count on finishing it in an hour..... well
i recommend you get it if you like funny illustrations.
Rating:
Summary: best collection Of Comics i have read Ever
Review: I have Read All The Way Through This Book 3 Times And Have Had This Book Less Than 2 Months. And Its the Greatest. I Have Always Liked The Characters And I Havent Seen them On TV In A While So I Wanted To Have My Own Collection And This Will Do It For Anyone That Is A die Hard Fan
Rating:
Summary: Joke & Dagger Rules!
Review: I just barely got the book today and finished every page because I was hooked. I love Spy Vs Spy, my number one reason of collecting MAD is the Spy Vs Spy comics and collectibles. My favorite strip is the one where both of them get runned down by soldiers. True classic to Antonio Prophias and his wonderful drawings. This book is highly recommended!!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book
Review: I love the Spy vs. Spy books. My uncle owns them and I look at them with my 7 year old cousin. He loves them too. If you like funny spies buy this book. It has many cool comics that usally backfire on the spy trying to kill the other spy. This is an awsome book and you should buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Spy Vs. Spy are the BEST!!!!!!!!
Review: I remember when I was a little kid and my brother collected every MAD magazine of the late 80s-early/mid 90s. I would read these with him and laugh just like everyone else. I liked the magazine but I LOVED Spy Vs. Spy! They were the main reason I read MAD. My brother also had 2 MAD books and I remember reading the Spy Vs. Spy comics over and over again! They are a beloved part of my childhood and I try to collect everything I can find of them. They are truly one of the greatest comic characters ever!
Rating:
Summary: Extra material puts this book over the top.
Review: I'd give this book 5 stars regardless, because I've always loved Spy v Spy -- and this book delivers the goods: Every Spy v Spy Prohias worked on in his life. But, what REALLY sets this book apart is the the wealth of OTHER material: His other MAD features, cover ideas, and a lot of biographical information covering his life in Cuba and the comics he did there. How many of MAD's contributors can say they were chased out of Cuba by an angry mob (with Fidel himself leading the pack)? But, the bottom line is the material: If you like Spy v Spy, you'll love this book. The extra material is just icing (albeit extremely intersting and diverting icing) on the cake.
Rating:
Summary: PROHIAS WAS A RARE SPIRIT
Review: In my early MAD Magazine days, I naturally took to the more visually-oriented stuff (Don Martin, Aragones's "drawn-out dramas," etc.); the movie & TV satires I didn't graduate to till I began actually watching the stuff they satirized. Among the former things above, Antonio Prohias's iconic spies ruled the day.
I know the strip wasn't to everyone's taste; I guess it's a matter of being reared in the uninihibitedly-violent era of cartoon humor I grew up in. Indeed, there's something rather childish about the bonk-about retaliation engaged in by Prohias's venerable creations (I'll confess- I was always rooting for the White Spy!!--I guess he fought DIRTIER).
But there's another side to Prohias many will find relevatory. He fled to the US from Cuba in 1959 to escape arrest & execution by Castro; this book does show us his earlier strip, "Tovarich," depicting a despicable Soviet dictator meant as indirect reference to the situation of Prohias's native country. Other entries in this book show "one-shot" cartoons he did for MAD: One such article is "The Pearl." Not many have seen this cartoon, but its 2 pages are potent stuff indeed. It's an incredible story of a deep-sea diver who kills an octopus to claim a pearl; the diver's pummelled by a one-eyed old salt, who rides the high seas and whose lifeless hand provides a sunbather with the stolen clam; the sunbather's given one too many strong drinks by a floozy, who nabs the clam; she's shot to death by the bartender. He breaks open the clam, only to find a paper advertisement for Earl's Pearl Shop!
Powerful stuff, and you'll see more of the same in "Spy Vs. Spy--The Complete Casebook." He's no longer with us, but Prohias's work collectively tells us a whole lot about human greed and oppression.
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