The Lighter Side of...
The Lighter Side of... was an American satirical comic strip series written and drawn by Dave Berg and published in Mad Magazine from 1961 to 2002.
Concept
"The Lighter Side of..." gently satirized everyday topics such as medicine, office life, parties, marriage, psychiatry, shopping, school, etc. Originally Berg would take an omnibus topic (such as "Noise," "Spectators" or "Dog Owners") and deliver approximately 15 short multi-panel cartoons on the subject. Later he just used various topics for each installment.
The series had no recurring characters, except for the hypochondric patient Roger Kaputnik and his personal doctor, who typically concluded every monthly installment. Kaputnik was a self-caricature. Berg also caricatured his colleagues whenever he drew gags based around an office. Chief editor William M. Gaines' head was often seen mounted on a wall like a taxidermed moose's head. [1]
Compared to much of the other content in Mad Magazine the strip was notable for being more old-fashioned and less brutal in its style of comedy. The drawing style was also more realistic. Still, according to Mad's editors "The Lighter Side" was the magazine's most popular feature. [2]After Berg passed away the strip was retired.
Homages and reboots
Four months after the last Berg artwork was published, his final set of gags, which Berg had written but not penciled, were published in "Mad" as a tribute. They were divided among 18 of the magazine's regular artists, including Jack Davis' last original work for Mad. In 2007, an occasional feature called "The Darker Side of the Lighter Side" debuted which consists of reprinted Berg strips, with rewritten word balloons that change the gags to black comedy topics.
Publications
Sixteen original collections by Berg were published as paperbacks between 1964 and 1987.
Berg paperbacks
| Year | Title | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at the U.S.A. | ISBN 978-0-446-35422-6 |
| 1966 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at People | ISBN 978-0-446-86132-8 |
| 1967 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Things | ISBN 978-0-446-94403-8 |
| 1969 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Modern Thinking | ISBN 978-0-446-30434-4 |
| 1971 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Our Sick World | ISBN 978-0-446-94404-5 |
| 1972 | Mad's Dave Berg: My Friend God | ISBN 978-0-451-06976-4 |
| 1973 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Living | ISBN 978-0-446-75697-6 |
| 1974 | Mad's Dave Berg: Roger Kaputnik and God | ISBN 978-0-451-06106-5 |
| 1975 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks Around | ISBN 978-0-446-30432-0 |
| 1977 | Dave Berg: Mad Trash | ISBN 978-0-446-87938-5 |
| 1977 | Mad's Dave Berg Takes a Loving Look | ISBN 978-0-446-88860-8 |
| 1979 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks, Listens and Laughs | ISBN 978-0-446-88667-3 |
| 1982 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at You | ISBN 978-0-446-34792-1 |
| 1984 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at the Neighborhood | ISBN 978-0-446-30350-7 |
| 1986 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Our Planet | ISBN 978-0-446-32310-9 |
| 1987 | Mad's Dave Berg Looks at Today | ISBN 978-0-446-34423-4 |
In popular culture
The artist's lightweight gags and sometimes moralistic tone were roughly satirized by the National Lampoon's 1971 Mad parody, which included a hard-hatted conservative and a longhaired hippie finding their only common ground by choking and beating Berg.
Bart Simpson reads The Lighter Side of... Hippies in The Simpsons episode Bart of Darkness and laughs: "They don't care whose toes they step on!" [3] In The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson he visits the Mad Magazine head quarters where he witnesses Alfred E. Neuman calling for "Kaputnik and Fonebone" (the latter being a regular character in Don Martin's comics). While Neuman yells Kaputnik is walking right behind him. [4]
In Family Guy 's parody of The Return of the Jedi in the episode It's A Trap! Chris Griffin (as Luke Skywalker) suggests that Stewie Griffin (as Darth Vader) should hang out on the "lighter side" instead of "the dark side of the force". This leads to a cutaway which spoofs the comic strip.[5]
Sources
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/25/arts/dave-berg-81-wry-cartoonist-created-mad-s-lighter-side-strip.html
- ↑ https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/berg_david.htm
- ↑ http://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/1F22.html
- ↑ http://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/4F22.txt
- ↑ http://www.lightersideoftheforce.com/2015/06/family-guy-cutaways-with-star-wars.html