Mad #427 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Dave Berg Issue - March 2003

Dave Berg (1920-2002) served as a Mad artist and writer for 45 years (1957-2002).  Upon his death, he had already completed drawings for two more "Lighter Side" articles and had written a series of humorous ideas that were just waiting for his drawings.  The Mad editors decided that other members of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" should complete the drawings for Dave as a final tribute.  Following are the 18 artists who participated in this tribute.

1.  Rick Tulka - drew Dave with his pipe smoke spelling "Kaputnick"
2.  Peter Kuper - took over "Spy vs. Spy" for Antonio Prohias (1921-1998) in 1997. 
3.  Sergio Aragones - started to work for Mad in 1962.  Aragones started his "Marginal Thinking" drawings in 1963.
4.  Jack Davis - was one of the four original artists for the Mad comic book edited by Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993).  The other three were Will Elder (1921-2008), Wallace Wood (1927-1981) and John Severin (1921-2012).  Davis came out of retirement (1997) to participate in the tribute.
5.  Mort Drucker - started drawing for Mad in 1957.  He has been known for his uncanny caricature drawings.  His drawing for Dave is simple but excellent as always.
6.  John Caldwell - drew for National Lampoon before coming to Mad in 1978.  Like Dave, Caldwell is an artist/writer.
7.  George Woodbridge (1930-2004) - also came to Mad in 1957.  He drew Dave in a frame in the back of his tribute drawing.  Sadly, this was also the last original Woodbridge work to appear in Mad.
8.  Bill Wray - drew "Monroe" from 1997 to 2006.  His signature for Dave was "BW'heart'DB"
9.  Angelo Torres - drew for Mad for over 40 years.  His drawing style is the closest to that of Berg.
10. Duck Edwing - has been an artist and writer for Mad since 1962.  His trademark duck is missing from the Berg drawing but I think that Dave would have wanted it to be there.
11. Tom Bunk - was born in Croatia.  He studied art in Germany.  He is known for his impossibly cluttered drawings.
12. Sam Viviano - started with Mad in 1980 and became art director in 1999.  His psychiatrist ("Dr. Forman") was his first official Mad drawing since he became art director. 
13. Paul Peter Porges - also came out of retirement (1996) to join the Berg tribute.
14. Bob Clarke (1926-2013) - started with Mad in 1956 shortly before Berg, Woodbridge and Drucker joined the staff.  Clarke's tribute drawing was his first for Mad since 1998.
15. Hermann Mejia - was a Venezuelan sculptor who brought his three-dimensional drawings to Mad in 1997.
16. Al Jaffee - has been the most prolific Mad contributor with 476 issues to his credit (through Mad #526).  He is best known for the "Fold-In" feature that first appeared in Mad #86.  For the Berg tribute, Jaffee added "chicken fat" to the exercise joke.
17. Paul Coker - has been a versatile Mad artist for 50 years.  He has also been a production designer for several animated television movies.
18. Drew Friedman - drew the traditional "office" joke with Publisher William M. Gaines (1922-1992) watching from the frame on the wall.  [JAM 4/17/2014]

Color Pages: 28 of 52 pages (54%)
Humorous Content: 49 of 52 pages (94%)

Departments:
Race Under Fire - Mad's Proposed Rule Changes for the Upcoming NASCAR Season
Yours, Mine And Our Lawyers - The Pre-nuptial Agreement of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Serge-In General - Another Mad Look at Spring Break
All Hail Scissor - Cents-Less Coupons - Your Money-Saving Circular
The Wizard of Odd - Duke Bissell's Tales of Undisputed Interest
Still Lazy After All These Years - Are You a Terminal Slacker?
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... The Medieval Faire
Good Snooze - Some Pleasant Little Thoughts That Might Help You Sleep Better at Night
Berg's-Eye Review - Mad Artists Pay Tribute to the Lighter Side of ...
Ku Klux Klam - If Trent Lott Had a Shellfish Allergy  [fake department]
All Bidding Aside - Mad's Ecchbay Item of the Month
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Addicted to Track - You're an Official, Over-the-Top, Card-Carrying, No-Life, Whack-Job NASCAR Fanatic If
TV Snide - Mad's Totally Honest Digital Cable Listings
Family Mathers - 8: Mild
An Embarrassment of Richard's - Diamond-Ersatz!

Fold-In - Winona Ryder