1979 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1979, Field Newspaper Syndicate (Chicago, IL).

*p. 730-780 on disk from King Features Syndicate. 

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

• January 1 - February 14: Dr. Rita Carson & Sylvia, epilepsy (see 1978)
• February 13 - October 4: Kay & Roy Jason
• Keith proposes to Dr. Carson - she says yes but wants to wait
• We're initially led to believe that Kay won't admit she had a drinking problem; Rex insists June goes to visit her at home since they are old friends
• Turns out Kay's husband, Roy (an attorney) is seeing another [scantily clad, younger] woman - we know this because he slaps her across the face when she suggests he isn't giving her enough money (2/10/79)
• He hits her again (4/6/79)  as he threatens her not to see another man (Davey Palomar, a man whom he got off in court even though he was guilty)
• Roy lies to everyone he knows that Kay has a drinking problem
• Roy is plotting to destroy Kay in divorce; she gets pulled over for speeding because Roy has threatened to kill her and take the children
• There is a strange panel that seems to come from nowhere - Roy says that Kay isn't "patriotic" because speeding means she's not conserving gas (5/9/1979)

Rex Morgan, MD - May 9, 1979   © King Features Syndicate

• Rex makes a statement that makes this strip personal to more people: "wife-beating isn't confined to any occupation or profession!" (5/18/79)

Rex Morgan, MD - May 18, 1979   © King Features Syndicate

• Strike 3 (literally): Roy hits Denise (the "other" woman) and this time he kills her (6/4/79)
• Roy admits to Kay he killed Denise, then hits her when she says they need to go to the police (9/6/79)
• Bingo! The teaching point strip: (9/22/79)

Rex Morgan, MD - September 22, 1979   © King Features Syndicate

•  Melissa comes in with fibrillation, requiring a cardiac intensive care unit admission
• October 5 - December 31: Sara Laneer
•  Sara is the daughter of a very wealthy family, who presents to the emergency department awake but unresponsive; her mother refuses to allow psychiatric admission
• Turns out she was on PCP
• There's a new signature on the strips October 29, 1979 - in addition to the others: Frank Springer, who was the penciler for the strip from 1979-1981.
•  Victor Sebastian, some crude looking "family friend" wallops Sara in the face at the hospital, but she can't remember this episode
• Sara has violent outbursts, Rex suspects a drug-related mental illness
• Marijuana usage strip (12/18/1979)
• Another Christmas strip, out of the story line
• Story ends without finish due to missing strips

Rex Morgan, MD - December 25, 1979   © King Features Syndicate

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!

1976 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1976, Field Newspaper Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 574-626 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• December 29, 1975 - April 9, 1976: Norm & Elizabeth Prescott
• We start in the middle of a story, with Rex's new patient, Mr. Norm Prescott - who has already given June a vase of roses (shocker!)
• Norm needs a complete physical to take out a $2M insurance policy
• Preliminary blood tests are suspicious and need to be repeated: elevated WBC count and abnormal cells
• Rex watches (looking concerned only when by himself) as June is wooed by yet another dashing, exciting young man
• June is whisked away to Philadelphia with Norm for the night, and answers an agitated phone call from Mrs. Elizabeth Prescott about their son (yikes!) - we learn a few days later that they're divorced, and that there's an argument over money and their son - Norm makes it clear he's only concerned about his son, not the money
• Norm's charm wears off as all of his dates with June are constantly interrupted by work phone calls
• Norm drinks alcohol and takes sleeping pills - not an intentional suicide attempt - after realizing that they want to admit him to the hospital for further testing
• We learn that he's previously had tests, and been told he has leukemia

Rex Morgan, MD - March 19, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• Unknown to Norm, his little boy and wife have arrived at the airport
• Norm is surprised to see Elizabeth, but makes an effort to concentrate on her - he asks them to move back to the house
• We also learn Norm does not have leukemia, and was just fighting off mono
• This story is interrupted by an emergency phone call for Rex...
• April 9 - September 7: Becky Barrett, Barbara & Brick
• Becky initially refuses treatment - she's quite a rebel - but eventually allows Rex to examine her
• Her father is concerned that they no longer communicate well
• Becky is released, and a man name Brick Cutler picks her up
• Becky runs into Rex and June on a date; on their way out they see Brick hitting Becky (out of jealousy):

Rex Morgan, MD - May 15, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• As Rex and June drop Becky off at home, she finds her father unconscious on the floor - Rex is able to get him stabilized in the ER
• Becky thinks her father divorced her mother because of his secretary, 15 years ago
• We learn that Brick has been shot and killed
• Barbara Sears, Mark's secretary, agrees to stay with Becky while her dad is in the hospital
• Becky does not give an accurate story to the police about her last interaction with Brick when questioned about his death
• The police make a comment about "this day and age", and that Brick may have been murdered for drugs:

Rex Morgan, MD - June 23, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• Becky has had an apparent change of heart and is showering Barbara with compliments when they visit Mark at the hospital - it's kind of suspicious...
• Rex brings up open heart surgery to Mark, suggesting the only alternative is to live with bouts of chest pain
• Barbara admits to Rex that she shot Brick - unintentionally (we believe her) - when it started to appear Becky was to be accused of murder
• The story seems to end abruptly, with Barbara's confession and Mark's open heart surgery; it picks up again on 9/17
• September 8 - February 2, 1977: Mary Gordon, oppressed wife of a surgeon
• Dr. Wes Gordon's wife, Mary, phones Brice in a drug/alcohol-induced stupor
• She leaves the hospital against orders for fear of embarrassing her surgeon husband
• She makes several comments where she feels trapped by the stereotype of a surgeon's wife, unable to work as a waitress or go back to school:

Rex Morgan, MD - September 28, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• Apparently Dr. Gordon's study is "off limits" to his wife when he's reading!
• When he gets home from his fishing trip he's upset to find Mary has gone back to school. The nerve! He becomes angrier when she's not home for lunch - she must be out of her mind!
• Dr. Gordon bumps into a couple of women at a bar, and ends up flirting and going out with Sherri Wade, an artist
• Wes then lies to Mary about his plans - he's going to "watch Sherri paint" in the afternoon but tells her he has committee meetings. I'm not impressed.
• Rex is quite bold and confronts Wes directly about his marriage and Mary:

Rex Morgan, MD - December 4, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• While Wesley is out on a date with Sherri, his patient receives emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction
• We break again for an off-topic, yet lovely, Christmas panel (in reading Scott McCloud's book, Understanding Comics, the use of a single, full panel helps to exaggerate expansive time/meaning - how perfect for Christmas cheer!)

Rex Morgan, MD - December 25, 1976    © King Features Syndicate

• Wesley calls Sherri at 3am to tell her they can't see each other anymore, but they're struck by a drunk driver on their way home
• The story ends quite abruptly - there's initial concern Wes will lose his arm (or its function), but is quickly given a good prognosis; Sherri is discovered to be shallow and Wes makes up with Mary

1969 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1969, Publishers Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 361-413 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• January 1 - February 25: Julie Rockwell (see 1968)
• February 25 - March 10: Melissa returns from her journey
• Melissa returns from her vacation with June; June is still travelling
• Melissa hopes June marries Willie Rodell, international playboy
• March 10 - July 17: Lea Foster, retrograde amnesia, murder
• The police bring a woman to the hospital who was found at a bus station wearing only a thin dress, and didn't know who she was
• Dr. Glenn David, the lady's doctor, gets emotionally involved, and Rex has her transferred to psych
• Rex and Glenn give her an IV injection to help her remember - all they get is her first name, Debra (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - April 3, 1969    © King Features Syndicate

• Rex hears from police: a newlywed couple, Lea and James Peter Foster, have been missing for three weeks following their honeymoon; husband was found murdered
• Rex identifies a mole on Debra that confirms she is Lea
• Lea is the major suspect for her husband's murder as her fingerprints were found on the weapon; Glenn backs her up
• Lea's brother-in-law (Jason Wilson) correctly identifies her, and also defends her (initially) before being creepy and telling individuals that he actually thinks she's the murderer
• Lea's memory returns, and her story points to Jason; he confesses to Lea that he did it so that his wife would inherit family money, not James & Lea
• July 17 - August 9: June returns!
• Melissa is laying it on thick, telling June she should marry Willie
• August 9 - 16: Ectopic pregnancy
• A couple comes in with an emergency; the wife is in shock, Rex suspects an ectopic pregnancy
• She has emergency surgery
• August 16 - January 14, 1970: June... will she marry Willie?
• Ginny has to leave work because her mother is ill - June agreed to step in temporarily
• Willie flies from London to see June, worries she's still in love with Rex
• June's true feelings come out: she's far more excited about medicine than money and fortune, 9/20/69 (see image below)

Rex Morgan, MD - September 20, 1969    © King Features Syndicate

• Willie is involve in cutthroat business - caused a man to commit suicide
• June shoots down Willie's marriage proposal
• Willie's associate, Don Wallace, has an acute attack of chest pain when pressured by Willie
• Rex reminds the reader that an accurate history is the doctor's best piece of information, 11/3/69, (see image)

Rex Morgan, MD - November 3, 1969    © King Features Syndicate

• Rex confronts Willie and tells him how awful a person he thinks he is
• Christmas post gives a shout-out to man landing on the moon, 12/25/69

Rex Morgan, MD - December 25, 1969    © King Features Syndicate

• Willie's evil plan to further aggravate Don's condition backfires when Don is thrilled to be fired
• Willie's plan is unveiled to June, and she turns him down immediately as he heads back to New York