THE WORK OF DAVE BERG
Commentary by Michael Vance
Comics legend Dave Berg (1920-2002) is best remembered for the least remembered.
Despite a successful career in both humor and super-hero comic books, Berg's claim to fame no doubt will be for "The Lighter Side" which ran in Mad Magazine until his death.
Using a standard comic strip format, he celebrated and satirized the most mundane moments in the lives of very real but very average people. Because of its theme, his work always stood out among the wild inanity of Mad, and became one of its most popular features.
"The Lighter Side" offered no story continuity, and little continuity of characters. However, its father figure, Roger Kaputnik, whose thick-rimmed glasses and pipe became Kaputnik's trademarks, did play a central role. Because of its broad appeal and universal themes, many readers may have wondered why this 'strip' was never syndicated through newspapers.
Berg's art was certainly reality based and blended so well with the themes and prose that it never drew attention to itself. Berg's simple line and attention to detail helped create a perfect marriage of word and picture.
His comic book work includes: The Spirit, Death Patrol, Uncle Sam (Quality, 1940-'41); Pvt. Pippin(Fiction House (1942); Jinx, Beetle Bailey, Bullwinkle (Western, 1941-'42,1962-'63); Capt. Marvel, Sir Butch, Spooks, Ghost Stories (Fawcett, 1941-'42); Capt. Courageous (Ace, 1942); Baldy, horror and war (Marvel (1941-'42, 1945-'58); Alice, Nursery Rhymes, Dolly in Dreamland (Ziff-Davis, 1952) and Archie (Archie, 1951-'55). He also worked for St. John and EC Publishing in 1952 and 1953.
Berg'smany books included: "Dave Berg Looks At The USA,...At People, ...At Modern Thinking, ...At Our Sick World, ...At Living, ...At Things, Looks Around,Mad Trash, Takes a Loving Look, Looks Listens and Laughs, Looks at You, Looks at the Neighborhood, Looks at Our Planet, and Looks at Today. He also drew cartoons for the U.S. Treasury Department.
The work of Dave Berg is highly recommended for all but the youngest of readers.
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