June 12: The Lighter Side of . . .

Dave Berg, who chronicled the fast-shifting American culture for four decades in “The Lighter Side of . . .”, MAD magazine’s longest-running feature, was born on this date in 1920. Berg was trained at Pratt Institute and Cooper Union and worked with Will Eisner and Stan Lee before joining the staff at MAD in 1956. He had a detailed, realistic cartooning style and a pleasantly lightweight sense of humor that anticipated the observational gags of Jerry Seinfeld and other culture-hound comedians. Berg’s strips were built upon single themes: “The Lighter Side of . . . Fashion,” “The Lighter Side of . . . Dating,” and so on. Launched in 1961, they featured an alter-ego character, Roger Kaputnik, who reflected a stodgy, liberal moral sensibility. (National Lampoon made fun of Berg with a 1971 image of a hippy and a hard-hat finding common ground by beating and strangling Berg/Kaputnik while calling him a “wishy-washy liberal fink.”) Berg held an honorary doctorate in theology and produced artwork for Chabad’s Moshiach Times as well as the B’nai Brith newsletter. His books included the best-selling Dave Berg Looks At the USA and My Friend God.

“It was more than just gags, it was a psychological and sociological study of the human condition, and truth in humor.” —Dave Berg