1978 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 2 Jan - 31 Dec 1978, Field Newspaper Syndicate (Chicago, IL).
*p. 679-729 on disk from King Features Syndicate.  

All comic strips are posted online by special permission of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

• January 2 - 27: Dr. Jim, "cancer specialist" (see 1977)
• January 27 - May 13: Chet Lacey, thug
• It looks like Billy is going to get involved with some bad characters from his job at the auto shop, namely Chet Lacey (who happens to have some serious sideburns)

Rex Morgan, MD - February 25, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• In the end, Billy is smart enough to stay away from Chet and his operation and escapes involvement and arrest of the band of thieves. Way to go, Billy!
• May 15 - September 23: Vince Luddigan, police detective and subdural hematoma!
• We start out in the ER - Melissa has had episode of fibrillation
• Meanwhile, the new nurse assistant Rex wants to hire to help June in the office is annoyingly energetic, admitting she simply wants to be around Rex - her name is Connie Bell, a perfect fit for her personality

Rex Morgan, MD - May 31, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• Keith Cavell has also made another surprise visit - and, no shocker here, he's already asked Connie out to dinner
• A police detective, Vince Luddigan, calls Connie away from her plans - he's a married man but explains he's going to divorce his wife to be with her (she pleads for him not to do so) - he has a suggestive headache when he gets upset...
• The truth comes out - he had a head injury two months prior
• Connie teaches us a few pieces about narcotics:

Rex Morgan, MD - August 18, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• September 4 - 10: MISSING; I suspect this is where Vince is finally convinced his head injury has caused some sort of problem, given that his behavior has been erratic
• We continue on 9/11 with: "After Vince Luddigan's wife signs a permit for surgery, Keith Cavell tells [Vince's co-worker] Charley what happened!"

Rex Morgan, MD - September 12, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• Keith shares that he's been feeling depressed, as he announces he's leaving after Brice Adam returns - we all know the truth: he's just sad he doesn't have a lady friend to marry
• September 25 - February 14, 1979: Dr. Rita Carson and Sylvia Landon, Epilepsy
• A [female] Dr. Carson comes in with appendicitis - she's apparently new in town, and we learn she's a psychiatrist
• Naturally, she's a new object of affection for Keith Cavell
• Rex and Keith are surprised to find out Dr. Carson didn't decide she wanted to go to med school until she was 22 years old (practically a dinosaur); the next day's strip we see her popping some pills in her hospital bed and lying about what they are
• A young high school girl with epilepsy comes in from a head injury while Dr. Carson is still a patient - she goes to talk with her.

Rex Morgan, MD - November 2, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• November 14 - 16, the young girl, Sylvia Landry, talks about her experience with epilepsy and how it has affected her life
• As Dr. Carson shows a strong personal interest in Sylvia, we learn that she herself has epilepsy

Rex Morgan, MD - December 19, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• Another break in the story for a large Christmas panel - we've learned from Scott McCloud that the longer panels help to create a sense of prolonged time, as if the issue spans a greater distance

Rex Morgan, MD - December 25, 1978   © King Features Syndicate

• Even though Keith proposes to Dr. Carson, she still refuses to tell him she has epilepsy for fear that he'll leave her; she finally comes clean when Keith finds her unconscious in her apartment (1/5/1979), and she proceeds to tell him about her experience

Rex Morgan, MD - January 13, 1979   © King Features Syndicate

• Sylvia escapes from the hospital when her doctor changes his mind and requests more neurology studies instead of releasing her - she finds her way to Dr. Carson's house
• Dr. Carson helps Sylvia explain to her parents that they are too overprotective and need to lighten up

1970 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1970, Publishers Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 413-447 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


All comic strips are posted online by special permission of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

• January 1 - 14: June & Willie (see 1969)
• January 14 - xxx: Susie Mitchell
• Susie's brother calls Rex concerned about his sister, who is a budding actress sensation
• Susie keeps blanking out, becoming unresponsive in the middle of a conversation; she's only aware that something strange is going on but doesn't know what (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - February 2, 1970    © King Features Syndicate

• Rex meets up with Susie - she is (of course) in love with him, but is strangely absent-minded in communicating with him
• Susie spaces out at work, causing problems at her rehearsal; her manager, Ben Price reassures her
• An EEG shows signs of petit mal seizures - Rex explains in a couple strips, 3/27-28/70 (see images)

Rex Morgan, MD - March 27, 1970    © King Features Syndicate

Rex Morgan, MD - March 28, 1970    © King Features Syndicate

• The director pulls Susie from the play because she keeps having seizures during rehearsal
• Story is incomplete due to missing strips
• May 10 - August 30: MISSING
• August 31 - February 12, 1971: The Delacort's, stroke, alcoholism
• Apparently Rex is ill, and Dr. Brice Adam appears to have joined Rex's service
• Brice has an altercation with their latest patient, Whitney Delacort; his daughter is furious
• Whitney is convinced that something is terribly wrong with him
• Stacie lures Brice to her house to feign interest in him, holding him up from answering his phone calls
• Meanwhile, Rex covers for him and responds to a cerebral thrombosis (stroke) that Whitney has; Brice eventually catches up and Rex fill him in (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - October 22, 1970    © King Features Syndicate

• Brice is scolded for not being available while on call, and Rex gives him an ultimatum to either shape up or practice elsewhere
• November 8 - 22: MISSING
• It appears Stacie is an alcoholic; she hits her maid when she's confronted about it
• Stacie drives drunk to a bar, where she's refused service because she is "unescorted"
• She throws her glass at the bartender when he refuses to refill her drink; Brice arrives and talks down the owner from calling the police
• Stacie "commits" to quitting
• Brice has to attend to an emergency coronary and must put off his date with Stacie
• Brice follows Stacie up to the ski lodge where he finds her drinking - he confronts her, then hits her friends who tell him to leave
• Rex and Brice talk about the frustrations of dealing with an alcoholic (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - January 8, 1971    © King Features Syndicate

• Stacie drives drunk; resulting accident kills a woman - Brice tries to protect her, Rex explains their responsibility as physicians (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - January 8, 1971    © King Features Syndicate

• Stacie voices her frustration that there's no cure for alcoholism (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - January 29, 1971    © King Features Syndicate

• The story ends with Stacie admitting everything to the police and telling her father everything, mostly that she wants to get help