I Spy #3: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The third (#3) I Spy comic book printed in 1967. Front cover has a color image of Alexander Scott (Bill Cosby) and Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), characters in the TV show "I Spy" standing back to back holding hand guns up and looking back towards each other. Culp, on the left, is in a blue pull over cardigan with the gun in his PR hand, and Cosby, on the right, is in a tan sweater with an orange undershirt, holding the gun with his PR hand. Blocks of color make up the background, mainly orange with Culp in a block of yellow and Cosby in a block of blue. At the top, in a white block, reads [I SPY] in black type, centered, and a logo for Gold Key with [I SPY] in orange type to the right and [10182-711] in black type underneath. Two blocks, green and purple, are in the bottom right corner, with white and yellow type, reading [ORDER TO KELLY:/KILL A FRIEND!/ORDER TO SCOTTY:/PULL THE TRIGGER!/ (c) 1967, THREE F PRODUCTIONS].There is a white type [12¢] in the top right corner. Inside front and back cover have black-and-white depictions from the TV show, focused on [Venice]. Interior pages of color printed on newspaper type print, comic strip style. Comics include: "A Deadly Friend Part I Assignment: Murder," "Monster Museum," Jest for Fun," "Chuckle Time," "Mini-Comics," and "Part II A Grave For a Two-Timer." 16 interior pages total, all front and back. Back cover has a black-and-white image of Bill Crosby as Alexander Scott, in a tan suit, black tie, holding a hand gun in his PR hand, with a block color background, yellow at the top, red at the bottom, with [I SPY PIN-UP] in black type near the bottom edge.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1967
• Published by: Gold Key Comics, American, 1962 - 1984
• Subject of: Bill Cosby, American, born 1937
• Subject of: Robert Culp, American, 1930 - 2010
• Type: comic books
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 10 3/16 × 6 15/16 in. (25.9 × 17.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (open): 10 3/16 × 13 3/4 in. (25.9 × 34.9 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Amusements
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: Television
• Object number: 2014.53.3.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © 1967, Three F Productions Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.