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

1977 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1977, Field Newspaper Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 626-678 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• January 1 - February 2: Mary Gordon, oppressed wife of a surgeon (see 1976)
• February 2 - June 13: Paul Belmont, mob boss 
• Danny Belmont, a 6-year-old boy comes into Dr. Morgan's office due to car accident that June witnesses. It's critical at first (an artery is severed) but is quickly mediated. We learn quickly that he has a dedicated father, and has not spoken a word since his mother died one year ago (he witnessed "his mother blown apart before his eyes")
• This story is briefly interrupted by a homicide (3/2/77); Dr. Morgan receives a gunshot victim, but is dead on arrival - the police suspect it was a professional job; fingerprints point to a mob killing

Rex Morgan, MD - March 3, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• Danny instantly gets attached to June, who visits for dinner - we get snippets of Paul Belmont's professional life - a man named "Garrity" has been murdered and an emergency board meeting is being called
• Victor Lambros cannot be reached - unacceptable!
• June also suggests Danny sees a psychiatrist for his separation issues
• Paul believes his wife was murdered and has been trying to track down the murderer every since - Garrity was supposedly to provide information
• While Melissa shares Paul's life story with June, Danny runs away and is found in the bushes by the police
• Paul turns to the DA when learning his wife and friend (Garrity) were killed by one of his own men
• The stories are ending more abruptly - the conclusions seems to have less grandeur to them...
• June 13 - January 27, 1978: Dr. Jim, "cancer specialist"
• When Dr. Adam doesn't show up for work, an anonymous phone call says that he would be in touch in the morning
• He's been taken hostage by some criminals (wanted for armed robbery) trying to nurse a young woman, Jeannie, back to health without involving authorities
• Brice writes a false prescription to quietly alert authorities; meanwhile, Jeannie falls into a coma
• Jeannie has bacterial meningitis, but survives once put on IV antibiotics
• Jase, the leader of the pack, comes down the with same and dies on the way to the hospital
• Billy, the youngest of the three, is hospitalized for observation, but attempts escape
• Brice appears to be taking a personal interest in Billy

Rex Morgan, MD - August 13, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• Brice takes Billy shopping, gives him car and apartment keys so he can turn his life around
• Dr. Morgan tries to connect Billy with Ellen Glenn, personnel manager of the local auto parts shop; she's due for a physical, and plans to hide her cancer treatments from him (per her 'oncologist's' wishes) Dr. Jim seems a bit dodgy - I think the artist wants us to know this by giving him a mustache more similar to previous criminals than the clean-cut physicians  

Rex Morgan, MD - October 5, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• It's evident that Dr. Jim is a nasty fraud, while his assistant, Charlotte, appears to have a smidge of a conscience
• In an ironic turn of events, Billy picks up work both at Ellen's auto shop, and then cleaning at Dr. Jim's "Health Clinic" in the evenings
• We get a good strip on cancer education (it's been a while since we've seen one of these):

Rex Morgan, MD - November 10, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• Ellen almost dies after a cancer "shot", but Billy saves her by phoning Dr. Adam in time
• Brice confronts Dr. Jim - Go, Brice, go!

Rex Morgan, MD - December 20, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• The plot becomes more intense when Charlotte backs out of the operation and is caught trying to take money from their safe

Rex Morgan, MD - January 7, 1977    © King Features Syndicate

• Dr. Jim is arrested, and Charlotte recovers well at the hospital
• The story shifts slightly to focus again on Billy, and his new friends at work, who appear to be plotting something evil and including Billy in their plans - the poor kid can't catch a break! 
• See details in 1978!

1963 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 14 Dec 1963, Publishers/Publishers Newspaper Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 76-125 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• January 1 - 3: Mrs. Williams, diabetes
• January 4 - 9: Tracy, Paul and Keith
• Tracy gets another call from Paul - they both miss each other, Tracy tells Paul they just have to be apart for a year
• Keith phones Tracy and sets up a date with her
• January 10 - 12: A Child, acid burns of the cornea
• A child comes in with acid burns to the cornea; the ophthalmologist says the damage won't be permanent because the parents were quick to wash with luke-warm water (teaching moment!)

Rex Morgan, MD - January 12, 1963     © King Features Syndicate

• January 13 - March 4: Tracy & Paul
• Tracy goes out with Keith, has a great time, and struggles with the possibility of breaking up with Paul (her fiance whom she plans to marry after residency)
• When Tracy tells Paul she wants to marry immediately, he flies down to see her - this is when we learn Paul is blind, and knows that Tracy is in love with someone else
• Paul Winthrop lost his vision in a car accident at 18 - Tracy was driving, but apparently it wasn't her fault; she can't admit to this
• Paul flies home, Tracy hopes Keith will one day return
• March 4 - July 26: Dr. Bernard Van Bern, the looove doctor
• Dr. Van Bern is clearly a fraud, but Mrs. William Plutark, wife of a wealthy industrialist, holds a reception in his honor; women flock
• Rex is not impressed
• Mrs. Plutark insists on her daughter, Elizabeth Corey, seeing Van Bern to save her marriage
• Van Bern hypnotizes Elizabeth, instructing that she'll be very happy in her marriage, but will break down when she hears the name Lola Laroc (who we know is in cahoots with Van Bern)
• Rex stops by the Corey residence to see their child, who has bronchitis
• Van Bern tells Mrs. Plutark a [false] secret: that Jack is legally married to Lola Laroc, not Elizabeth; he says he'll handle it
• Lola is set up to blackmail Jack, saying she'll go to the police unless she's paid $75k
• Jack and Rex are worried that Elizabeth is mentally ill
• Rex checks with the police: Van Bern = Professor Borrigard, con man
• Van Bern and Lola get busted; Jack's reputation is restored, Elizabeth gets psychiatric care
• July 26 - December 3: C. Robert "Bob" Wiley & Wife Midge, coronaries and stress
• Rex is called when Bob has a minor coronary; his wife is upset because they have dinner with the president of Bob's company (she's convinced he just had indigestion)
• Strip educates about a doctor's responsibility versus ability to treat the unwilling, 8/8/63 (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - August 8, 1963     © King Features Syndicate

• Teaching strip on coronaries, 8/9/63 (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - August 9, 1963     © King Features Syndicate

• Midge pushes Bob to accept a promotion, but the stress causes him a serious coronary - another great time for a teaching strip, 8/28/63 (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - August 28, 1963     © King Features Syndicate

• Mr. Wiley goes into fibrillation while Mrs. Wiley has taken Rex out to wine and dine (and flirt and distract and...)
• Bob confronts both his wife the the VP of his company to tell them that he's prefer to be in sales rather than take the promotion to a managerial position
• Midge feigns overdosing on sleeping pills after hearing this to scare her husband into doing what she wants
• Midge slaps Rex in the face and he gives her a piece of his mind; this moves Midge to soften up and support Bob's decision to return to sales
• December 3 - April 16, 1964: Jeanie Tang, heroine addict
• December 15 - January 5: MISSING
• Jeanie Tang is a singer at a local night club owned by sleeze-ball Nero
• Al Croyden fears she's not well and approaches Rex about her health

1962 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 12 Feb - 31 Dec 1962, Publishers Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 18-76 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• January 1 - February 11: MISSING
• February 12 - May 12: Susie Conover, meningitis
• Harris intends to marry Emily Conover, the single mother of daughter Susie, but can't stand children
• Susie falls ill, and when Rex shows up, Harris insists he leaves and waits for the "specialist" that he has phoned in; Susie only wants Rex
• Susie has meningitis, and is placed "in contagion", and falls into a coma
• After 2 doses of hydrocortisone, Susie eventually pulls through
• Harris has a change of heart about his priorities, and decides he loves both Emily and Susie
• May 10 - August 23: Sindoo and his "Rest Home"
• Elsa's husband, Larry Farnum, is worried that Elsa is mentally ill and needs hospitalization, but her mother (Mrs. Krone) is horrified at the idea and refuses
• Mrs. Krone finds a "Dr. Sindoo", who doesn't charge fees but asks for "contributions" - Miss Georgi Fleece, working with Sindoo, suggests an initial contribution of $500
• Sindoo whips one of his workers, Grif, for leaving bruises on an elderly patient (Grif does not appear to be mentally sound)
• Rex checks in with the medical society, which doesn't have any information on Sindoo
• Grif takes Elsa away from from Sindoo's to protect her from others; he harms anyone who tries to come near her - this all seems very King Kong...
• Grif holds Elsa hostage at a farmhouse, thinking he's protecting her; he fractures Sindoo's skull with the butt of a shotgun, threatens to shoot Rex but Elsa screams and stops him
• Grif turns out to be Sindoo's brother
• Teaching moment! 8/21/62 (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - August 21, 1962     © King Features Syndicate

• Miss Fleece has a mysterious past that Rex knows about
• In the end, Elsa is hospitalized and given a good prognosis
• August 24 - November 23: Allison Poole
• Rex avoids getting into a fight when Allison's playboy, Tony, instigates problems because of a double-booked table at a fancy restaurant
• Allison lures Rex to her home feigning an emergency, just to hit on him; Tony follows and sees him there, runs Rex off the road after he leaves her house
• When the police show up, they make a point to mention he was wearing his safety belt - nice touch (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - September 19, 1962     © King Features Syndicate

• Rex has a severe concussion, and doesn't remember anything about that night
• June overhears Tony [aggressively] admitting to Allison that he ran Rex off the road; she gives him a good wallop (there's an awful lot of face slapping in this series...)
• Tony eventually admits to Rex that he ran him off the road, but does so in the same sentence as his request for help with Allison - she's left Tony a note saying "there's so little time left" for her
• Rex already had suspicions when she was unaware her cigarette was burning her fingers
• Neuro exam! 11/13/62
• Diagnosis with a neuro consult: syringomyelia, "a crippling disease...and the course...downhill"
• Allison is discharged, as there is no more medical intervention
• November 23 - December 7: Dr. Keith Cavell's Surprise Visit
• Even those Melissa fakes a heart attack to keep Keith from leaving town (without Rex and June knowing) we still get a picture of how Keith treats angina: a nitroglycerine tablet under the tongue

Rex Morgan, MD - November 27, 1962     © King Features Syndicate

• December 3 - TBD: Intern, Dr. Tracy Heath
• Rex heads to hospital to help a new female intern, Dr. Tracy Heath, handle a head injury with lacerations - he automatically assumed it was a man, and had to be corrected by the nurse
• A 3-car automobile car crash results in chaotic scenes at the emergency department
• hemorrhage and transfusion
• compound fracture
• Tracy is offended by Keith's comment, "...if I knew they were turning out pretty interns like you, I might cut down on my off time!"
• Interns make $25/month! 12/22/62
• Tracy gets a call from a worried Paul (who we don't yet know)
• December 28 - January 3, 2012 - Mrs. Williams, diabetes
• Mrs. Williams, a diabetic patient who won't stay on a diet, comes in - she's frank about not liking female doctors, and Tracy lets her have it for not following doctor's orders:

Rex Morgan, MD - December 29, 1962     © King Features Syndicate

• Rex is also blunt with Mrs. Williams about her diabetes. Teaching strip, 1/1/63 (see image)
• Rex goes on to lecture Tracy that disciplining patients is not the way to handle them, even when they don't follow orders

Rex Morgan, MD - December 31, 1962     © King Features Syndicate

Rex Morgan, MD - January 1, 1963    © King Features Syndicate