Sunday Funnies: "Well, I'll Be a Kotter's Uncle!" by Edelman, Oksner, and Estrada

Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! One of Young Groove's fave TV shows was Welcome Back, Kotter. Those silly Sweathogs and their equally trippy teacher tickled the old funny bone most every Thursday night. Evidently, the folks at DC who produced the Welcome Back, Kotter comic mag watched the show, too, 'cause the characters sounded right--something that didn't happen a lot in the world of licensed comics. Writer Scott Edelman really "got" Kotter, and proved it with WB,K #9's (October 1977) "Well, I'll Be a Kotter's Uncle!" The main running gag of the show, which kicked off and ended nearly every episode, was Kotter telling a funny story about an uncle or aunt. Edelman decided to build an entire story around Kotter's kooky relatives--and wrote a story that even tops what we saw on the show itself. The art by Bob Oksner and Ric Estrada captured the look of the show's characters and took things a bit over-the-top--but in a good way. Kick back and enjoy, Groove-ophiles. Don't be surprised if you find yourself saying, "Very impressive, Mr. Edelman!"

Sunday Funnies: "How the Kotter Gang Spent Their Summer Vacation" by John Severin

Hullo. How are ya, Groove-ophiles! My name is Arnold Horshack. Y'want I should share a really, really good Welcome Back, Kotter parody with ya? Who? Kotter, remember the 70s show with John Travolta and the other Sweathogs trying to get by in Gabe (Kaplan) Kotter's high school class? Where? On ABC-TV? Why? 'Cause it was a hit, Vinnie, or don'tcha remember nothin'? Anyway, in Cracked Magazine #137 (cover-dated November 1976), John Severin did his usual far-out job of sending up yet another pop-culture phenomenon as he filled us in on "How the Kotter Gang Spent Their Summer Vacation". Oooh! Oooh, ooh! Y'wanna read it? G'head, g'head...

Sunday Funnies: Welcome Back, Kotter #1

Before Gabe Kaplan co-hosted GSN's High Stakes Poker, he was TV teacher Gabe Kotter. Before he became a mega-ultra-movie super-star, John Travolta made the girls swoon as Vinnie Barbarino. Before he started showing up as "who the heck is that?" at comicbook conventions, Ron Palillo was famed uber-nerd Arnold Horshack. These folks were at the top of a really great cast on the always groovy Welcome Back, Kotter TV show that ran on ABC from 1975-1979.

The sit-com about a bunch of really cool losers and the teacher who proves that they can grow up to become semi-losers was a smash, infusing the pop culture of the day with funny sayings ("Get off my case, toilet face!", "Hi There.", "Ooh! Oooh, ooh, ooh!", "G'head, g'head!"), weird seal-inspired laughs (known as "The Horshack"), games, toys, lunch boxes, and even records (remember John Travolta's "Let Her In"? Bet'cha wish ya didn't! But we did get John Sebastian's great theme song on 45!). Best of all, DC Comics was smart enough to snatch WB,K up and make it into a comicbook.

Think about it. Kotter was a natural for comics. High school screw-ups and their long suffering teachers had been comic fodder ever since a certain red-haired kid bobbied his first sock. DC put some really good talent on the mag, proving folks that wrote and drew Superman and his pals could get down like a clown! Elliot S! Maggin, Jack Sparling, Tony Isabella, Bob Oksner, Ric Estrada, Bob Toomey, Mark Evanier, and Scott Edelman contributed 10 fun-filled issues (August, 1976-December, 1978) that looked and read a lot like the show. Since comics don't have budgets for sets and cast members, we got to see the Sweathogs (as Kotter's students were called) in action in places other than the classroom and Gabe's apartment. Far-out fun stuff, Groove-ophiles! Let me lay "So Long, Kotter!" by Elliot S! Maggin, Jack Sparling, and Bob Oksner from ish #1 on ya! And if you don't like it--"Up your nose widda rubber hose!"