Exclusive Preview: Spy vs. Spy

I have to confess to a personal fondness for this preview. I grew up reading MAD Magazine, and in fact I’m one of those people whose knowledge of popular culture, particularly film, was strongly shaped by it. And like all MAD readers, I giggled to the slapstick antics of “Spy vs. Spy,” which made total sense in my Cold War world. So I was delighted when the MAD folks offered us an exclusive preview of a “Spy vs. Spy” comic from the May issue (MAD Magazine #521), which has a Game of Thrones themed cover that is… exactly what you would expect from MAD Magazine.

This comic is by Peter Kuper, a well known creator whose works include the children’s book Theo and the Blue Note and a number of adaptations of novels (The Jungle, Metamorphosis) as well as works for adult readers. Kuper took over “Spy vs. Spy” when the original artist, Antonio Prohias, retired.

In terms of age-appropriateness, I should mention that there is some violence in this preview (it’s kind of the point of “Spy vs. Spy”); it’s not terribly graphic but probably not best for the youngest readers. My 12-year-old nephew, on the other hand, just got a huge guffaw out of it. Also, this is a big file, so it may take a while to load—I didn’t want to shrink it and lose the detail.

Finally, for those who are saying “They still publish MAD Magazine?”—yes, they do. It’s part of DC now, and you can subscribe here.

Enjoy!

(Click twice to enlarge, three times to enlarge even more.)

Filed under: Previews, Young Adult