Posted in: Comics | Tagged: ,

How Fidel Castro Was Responsible For Spy Vs Spy

Published
by
|
Last updated
|
Comments

4851d1ca5c352cd6c8b72563f4c68877The creator of Spy vs Spy was the Cuban comics creator Antonio Prohías, born in Cienfuego in 1921, A newspaper cartoonist, he created politically and culturally satirical cartoons, winning awards and becoming president of the Cuban Cartoonists Association.

His anti-Batista cartoons saw that after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro even handed him a "cartoon of the year" award. But when the cartoons twisted to attack Castro's anti-free speech policies, he was labelled a spy for the CIA , found himself fired from publishers and in 1960, he left for New York.

Unable to speak English, he worked in a factory in the day, and drew new cartoons at night. He took his "Sinister Man" slapstick character from his Cuban days, gave him a rival, and walked into the MAD Magazine offices with the wordless Spy Vs Spy. He sold three strips straight away. And MAD started to publish a comic strip that expounded the absurdity of the Cold War exploding (or not) across the globe.

And if it wasn't for Castro, we'd never have seen it…

 

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.