The Black Spy

The Black Spy is one of two rival secret agents — one dressed in black, one in white — who appeared in Spy vs. Spy, Antonio Prohías's wordless comic strip debuting in Mad #60 in 1961, each locked in an endless, escalating battle of schemes and counter-schemes against the other.

Born in the pages of Mad #60 in 1961, The Black Spy is one half of Antonio Prohías's beloved "Spy vs. Spy" — a Silver Age creation that became one of the most iconic recurring features in American humor comics. Over a remarkable 53-year run, this wordless, scheming agent has shared the anarchic world of Mad with the likes of Alfred E. Neuman and even the occasional caricatured world leader, making for some of the most delightfully subversive pages in the magazine's history. With two key-issue appearances to their name and 68 catalog entries spanning decades, The Black Spy is far more than a supporting gag — they're a genuine piece of comics culture, a monument to Cold War satire and Prohías's genius for pure visual comedy. If you've never chased down the classic Mad issues, this is exactly the character to send you digging through the back-issue bins.