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Antonio Prohias

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Artist

The Resume

    (January 17, 1921-February 24, 1998)
    Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba
    Worked for the Cuban newspaper El Mundo in the 40s and 50s
    Created the Cuban comic strip ‘El Hombre Siniestro’ (1956)
    Created the Mad Magazine comic strip ‘Spy vs. Spy’ (1961)
    His work was collected in ‘Spy vs. Spy: The Complete Casebook’ (2001)

Why he might be annoying:

    Spy vs. Spy’ came to overshadow his other work.
    His best known strip uses the same scenario over and over (two opposing spies try to kill each other).
    He said ‘El Hombre Siniestro’ was based on the ‘national psychosis of the Cuban people.’
    His 14-year-old daughter had to act as his translator when he first visited the offices of Mad Magazine.
    Younger fans may not realize that ‘Spy vs. Spy’ satirizes the Cold War.
    Fidel Castro accused him of working for the CIA.
    He never learned to speak English fluently.
    He added a female spy to his strip but dropped her as he felt compelled ‘out of courtesy to women’ to always let her win.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His grade school teacher had him give drawing lessons to the rest of the class.
    He was the first Cuban cartoonist to draw attention to Castro’s totalitarian tendencies.
    After he denounced communism, thousands of Castro supporters called for his execution (1959).
    His anti-Castro cartoons eventually forced him to flee Cuba for New York (1960).
    In New York he worked in a sweatshop by day and did his cartooning at night.
    ‘Spy vs. Spy’ was immediately accepted by Mad and has appeared in almost every issue since (ghosted since the late 80s).
    His Cuban nationality made it hard for him to get visas to many countries.
    His colleagues and neighbors remember him as a kind and courageous man.
    The expression ‘Spy vs. Spy’ is sometimes used to describe any two obsessed foes.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 107 Votes: 53.27% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 61 Votes: 40.98% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 106 Votes: 44.34% Annoying