Welcome Back, Kotter #2

Epstein's practical jokes are getting out of hand. We're not talking about his famous excuse notes signed by his 'mother'. This time, the Sweathog managed to move Mr. Woodman's car from the staff parking lot into his office. And if Buchanan High's vice principal can prove he did it, Epstein will find himself expelled.

Mr. Kotter and the rest of the Sweathogs decide enough is enough. But their timing couldn't be worse as a family emergency has Juan Epstein in a panic unlike ever before. With his kid brother in the hospital, can Mr. Kotter and his students be there when Epstein needs them most?

This issue from January, 1977 felt like I was reading a lost episode from the iconic 1970s sitcom. From the lyrics of John Sebastian's catchy theme to one of Mr. Kotter's stories about his assortment of odd relatives to some pretty impressive artwork of the cast by Jack Sparling (Strange Adventures), I was in heaven. ( If you count how many times I inhaled that fabled aroma of 43-year old comic, I really was in nirvana!)

The neat thing about this issue was despite feeling like an episode, it didn't feel stale. That's saying something for a show that relied on the same old catch phrases and jokes every 30 minutes. All of the characters seemed unrestricted by the bounds of their regular series writers. So did the plot.

I think that with the story not being bound by the show's limited amount of set pieces helped keep this story fresh. Epstein never would have been able to fit Woodman's car into his office on broadcast television. The flashback scene and the hospital scene probably would have been scraped for budget reasons. But thanks to the affordability of ink and paper, the Sweathogs had free reign over the entire borough of Brooklyn! I wish I could say that this classic issue was perfect. There were a few flaws. Mainly with Kotter and his wife. Julie Kotter looked nothing like actress Marsha Straussman. And the banter between the husband and wife seemed like it wasn't a reflection of the characters from the TV, but more like the introductory page of a MAD Magazine send up of the show.

Okay, so Welcome Back Kotter wasn't a comic masterpiece on the same level of anything written by Lee and Kirby. But I loved watching the show as a kid and an occasional episode now is a special treat. This series was on my top 10 list of comic book TV adaptations to watch. And I was really blessed to find an issue right before the lock-down hit. Finding this book in a dollar bin recently, was just gravy and a fun diversion during a rough time physically for me.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 of of 10 stars.