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!