LOS ANGELES (AP) Dave Berg, who affectionately spoofed what he called ‘‘the human condition’’ in the pages of Mad magazine for more than 40 years, died May 16 of cancer. He was 81. Berg, who began working for Mad as a free-lancer in 1956, created the satirical magazine’s enduring ‘‘The Lighter Side of’’ comic strip in 1961. He often put friends, family members and colleagues into his cartoons, among them Mad’s late publisher William M. Gaines, whose head appeared mounted, like a deer’s, on the side of a wall. He also drew himself into the strip regularly, as Roger Kaputnik, an everyman with an always-present pipe.
Born in New York City, Berg attended Cooper Union Art School in New York, landing a job inking backgrounds for the newspaper comic strip ‘‘The Spirit’’ when he was 20. Later, he worked under Stan Lee at Timely Comics (now Marvel Comics), before moving on to Mad, which he described as ‘‘the main attraction, the big event, the grand opening.’’ During World War II, he was a member of the Army Air Corps and served as a war correspondent in Iwo Jima, Guam, Saipan and Japan.
His final ‘‘Lighter Side’’ panels are scheduled for the September issue of Mad, marking the magazine’s 50th anniversary.
Sometime around the Mid-70’s I saw David Berg on Television; (An 1970’s OTV show, Similar to “Prisoners Of Gravity” for those living in Ontario) And the first thing I thought in my 14 year old mind was: “Hey! That’s looks like the Kaputnik guy in MAD!” Hopefully, “The Lighter Side” has gone on to The Lightest Side. First Fonebone, now Kaputnik. (And MAD now accepts advertising. “sigh” It used to stick it’s tounge out at the system. Now, it IS the system.) I’ll miss ya, Dave!
Aw man…people like this die and yet blowhards like McFarlene still live on.
Berg was a great humorist and a great artist. And what a history…Inker for “The Spirit”…Worked with Stan the Man…Was in the middle of Mad for some 40 odd years. People would give anything to do what he did in his lifetime.
Plus his drawing style was beautiful in its own right, particuraly his female form (His nudes - while not seen in Mad - are marvelous).
I think this wa s afeature Mad had of rejected material, and it was all piled together and photgraphed across a 2-page spread. There were a couple of Dave Berg cartoons visible under The Lighter Side of Death.
One I remember was an army post scene…the first panel is the Captain telling the Seargent that the wife of one of his men, Hodgkins, died, and instructed him to “break the news to him gently.”
The Sgt. calls out all the men in formation, and says he’s got an announcement to make, “but first I want all the married men to take one step forward. NOT SO FAST HODGKINS!”
Sigh… as an second-generation MAD fan (thanks Mom!), proud owner of “Totally Mad” (7 disc CD ROM set - all issues thru Dec 1998) and several of the “MAD About …” books, I am truly sorry to hear of Dave Berg’s passing.
I may be way off base here, but I always thought that Hank Hill bore a striking resemblance to Roger Kaputnik, and that this was more homage than coincidence.
Y’know the pen spreads out the ink
But it smears unless it’s dried
Berg is gone, Alf Neumann cried
Break on through to the Lighter Side!
Break on through to the Lighter Side!
I remember reading years ago that William Gaines was a militant atheist, while Dave Berg was an observant Jew. Nonetheless, Berg swore to everyone that, underneath it all, Gaines was a highly moral man who would make it to Heaven, which exasperated Gaines no end.
I’d like to think that, right now, somewhere Berg is telling Gaines, “I TOLD you so!”
This is really gonna bug my two brothers, too. We used to read every issue of MAD and had numerous paperbacks strewn all over the house, in our bedrooms, in the bathroom. Used to drive my mom nuts.
Nah - I’m pretty sure Mort Drucker and Jack Davis are still with us, and they’re both younger than Jaffe and joined the gang of idiots before Jaffe did.