American satirical comic strip series
"The Lighter Side Of..." is 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, and school. 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. From late 1980 on he used multiple topics for each installment.
The series had no recurring characters, except for the hypochondriac Roger Kaputnik, his family, and his personal doctor, who typically concluded every monthly installment. Kaputnik was a self-caricature. Berg also caricatured his colleagues, including publisher William M. Gaines, whenever he drew gags based around an office. After Gaines died in 1992, his portrait was often seen mounted on a wall.
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 one of the magazine's most popular features. After Berg died 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 consisted of reprinted Berg strips, with rewritten word balloons that changed the gags to black comedy topics. From October 2018 to December 2019, the Burbank reboot of "Mad" featured a modern reboot of the strip by writer Tammy Golden and artist Jon Adams, which was canceled when the magazine switched to mostly-reprint content in 2020.
Publications.
Sixteen original collections by Berg were published as paperbacks between 1964 and 1987.
In popular culture.
The artist's lightweight gags and sometimes moralistic tone were sharply 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 for being a "wishy-washy liberal".
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!" In "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Bart visits "Mad Magazine"'s headquarters, where he witnesses Alfred E. Neuman calling for "Kaputnik and Fonebone" (the latter being a regular character in Don Martin's comics). While Neuman is yelling, Kaputnik is walking right behind him.
In "Family Guys parody of ', 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.
Sources.
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