The Anatomy of Comics - Part 2

Notes from: McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 60-137.

• Closure - a concept where we perceive a whole/entire experience when we may only actually be observing parts of it (ex. in a vertical stack of books, we assume there are covers and pages between the top and bottom; not because we see them but because we have previously experienced this to be true) (p. 63)
• The space between panels is called "the gutter", and "plays host to much of the magic and mystery that are the very heart of comics. Here in the limbo of the gutter, human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea." (p. 66)
• It's in the gutter where readers go from reading to participating (p. 69)

McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 66.
Retrieved from: graphicnovel.zachwhalen.net

• A few pages are spent on analyzing the different types of transitions between panels
• Action-to-action predominates in Western culture, illustrating out "getting there" culture (p. 81) as well as perhaps the necessity of accomplishing much in a limited space (p. 80)
• Action-to-action does predominate in Japanese comics, but to a much lesser degree; subject-to-subject and moment-to-moment panels illustrate a culture that emphasizes "being there" (p. 81) which is permitted in the lengthy anthologies of comics (p. 80)
• Comics is considered "mono-sensory" - that is, it's entirely visual; however, in the gutters, because no senses are required, all are engaged! (p. 89)
• The dance between visible and the invisible is a unique property to comics. "No other artform gives so much to its audience while asking so much from them." (p. 92) 
• Words provide time by representing sound (p. 95)
• Extending the length of a panel can increase the reader's perception of time, even though the content may be no different than if the panel were narrower (p. 101)
• Timelessness can be produced when the content leaves no information regarding duration, leaving the reader to ponder the scene even after they've moved on to another panel - this effect is exaggerated when the panel "bleeds" off the edge of a page (p. 102-3)
• Depicting motion evolved from "wild, messy, almost desperate" lines to lines "so stylized as to almost have a life and physical presence of their own" (p. 111)
• All lines carry some sort of expression, shape and direction alone influencing the characteristics (p. 125)
• The use of very basic lines can be used to add emotion or sensual information (smell, sound, etc.) (p. 128)

Rex Morgan, MD and Cocaine

Notes from: Erickson, P. (1987). The Steel Drug: Cocaine in Perspective. (E. M. Adlaf, G. F. Murray, & R. G. Smart, Eds.). Ontario: Lexington Books.

From book jacket: 

Cocaine's popularity among adults as a so-called recreational drug has skyrocketed. Yet, reliable information about the drug and its users remains relatively scarce. This important book fills that gap by providing extensive historical and cultural background on cocaine as well as the results of a remarkably in-depth study of over one hundred adult cocaine users. 


The authors begin by placing the current cocaine crisis in a social and historical context. They discuss the introduction of cocaine into Europe and North America and examine the roots of current legislation aimed at curbing the drug's use. They also highlight the appealing image of cocaine as portrayed in many aspects of popular culture. 


Based on their own study, the authors provide directions for further research and implementation in legal policy, deterrence, education, and public policy. This extensive, thought-provoking work is essential reading for drug treatment professionals as well as all who are interested in the critical problems of cocaine use.


Patricia G. Erickson, Edward M. Adlaf, and Glenn F. Murray are members of the Prevention Studies Department of the Addiction Research Foundation in Toronto, where Reginald G. Smart is the Department Director. The Foundation undertakes research, treatment, and education in the area of alcohol and other substance dependencies.


Notes from Chapter 2 - Cocaine in Popular Culture: Then and Now

• Popular/mass culture encompasses those "widely accessible forms of transmission of the value, beliefs, and practices of a society." (p. 23)
• Comic strips definitely fit this definition
• Unresolved is the issue of whether pop culture follows public opinion or precedes it (or if they influence each other) (p. 23)
• Cocaine users reported mass media as their source (second to their peers) for expectations of cocaine (p. 23)
• With the counterculture movement of the 1960's came many songs referring to drugs both directly and indirectly; the consequence was the Federal Communications Commission stepping in (1971) to regulate lyrics, when the US Army expressed concerns (p. 24)
• Literature: Sherlock Holmes almost required cocaine for mental stimulation - example given is from The Sign of Four published in 1886 (p. 25)
• Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, ophthalmologist, only provides concerns of recreational use via Dr. Watson - there is no mention of medical use. Holmes only talks of the desire and positive effects of cocaine (image from: http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2009/09/oh-watson-sherlock-wants-needle-quick.html)
• Biographies highlighted the use of cocaine among the social elite (due to its high cost) and within the entertainment industry (p. 26-7)
• One study in 1978 by Gerbner suggested 1/5 action comic characters used drugs to gain their superpower (p. 27)
• Rex Morgan, MD exemplifies the stigmatization - Claudia Bishop is a social/recreational user but is seeing Dr. Morgan because she can not control her habit, 1985 strip (p. 27-8)
• Cocaine is sensationalized in newspapers, infiltrating previously unrelated activities/interests such as Sports Illustrated magazine (p. 28)
• Hill (1985) found a weak relationship between public concerns and the political/social content of national news programs, which is contrary to a study by Duster (1970) suggesting that television news influences public opinion, not the other way around (p. 29)
• A sharp increase in articles published from 1981 - 1984 depicting cocaine in a negative light could have served to legitimize the "sick role" of cocaine addicts; The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported an increase in those seeking treatment during this time period (p. 30)
• Movies and television also portray cocaine negatively (p. 31)
• Image of cocaine users is a paradox - they are often people of high social status, yet the consequences of addiction are detrimental (p. 32)

A Word from George Basalla

Notes from:  Basalla, G. (1976). Pop Science: The Depiction of Science in Popular Culture. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. Reidel Publishing Company. doi:978-90-277-0657-7

• "Popular science" is science that is restricted to a highly-educated group, mostly the scientific community; this is not where comics fit in
• "There exists a feedback loop between widely-held American ideas of science and their popular artistic representation in comic strips, television shows, and feature films." (p. 261)
• Like many other authors, Basalla agrees "pop science" - an aspect of the popularization of science - is understudied and under-appreciated (p. 261)
• During the golden age of comic books (1938-1954), doctors/scientists were depicted as ruthless, heartless, and willing to sacrifice any and all for the secret formula (p. 262)
• With the 1960's came Stan Lee's Marvel Comics, introducing a new "social conscience" in plots and expanding the audience from young boys to college students (p. 262)
• Most scientists depicted were those who transformed into monster-like creatures: Dr. Bruce Banner & The Hulk, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Chemist Ted Sallis & Man-Thing, Dr. Curtis Connors & The Lizard (p. 262-3)

Caught in the blast of gamma radiation, brilliant scientist Bruce Banner is cursed to transform in times of stress into the living engine of destruction known as THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/universe/Hulk_(Bruce_Banner)#ixzz20oinDsyn

• Stan Lee continued the portrayal of scientists as tending towards "mental instability and social irresponsibility" (p. 263)
• Reference: 134 million copies of Marvel Comics distributed v. 6.85 million Scientific American (no date given on the reference) (p. 263)
• Those not portrayed as evil are flawed; he is either naive or overly obsessed and cannot see the resulting consequence of his research - in the end, his work results in the same consequences as the mad scientist
• Good example, Frankenstein (p. 264)
• The "good" scientists that we see are usually assistants or lab technicians that do all of the work but receive no recognition or glory
• Good example, the techs that work in the lab assisting Dick Tracy's detective work (p. 265)
• A quick comment is made about how medical doctors may be excused from this depiction because of their necessity of interacting with the public in both social and political systems
• "Rex Morgan, MD can truthfully be shown in a comic strip as a faithful servant of society." (p. 271)
• Scientists often referred to as "they", as if they're hidden away from society (p. 272)
• An estimated 100 million Americans read at least one comic strip in the Sunday papers, and at least 90 million follow a favorite character in daily episodes - this at a time when the population was 211 million (p. 276)
• "...the individuals whoa are in a position to reach substantial numbers of Americans with their conception of science are therefore not science writers and journalists...it is rather the persons who produce popular television shows and feature films, along with the cartoonists of the favorite comic strips - in short the creators of popular culture - for whom the wide American public receives its portrayals of science and scientists." (p. 276)

George Basalla's take on the scientist being portrayed negatively doesn't appear to affect the medical doctors, however, I think it's interesting to include this angle when considering the audiences reading The Hulk and Dick Tracy may be similar to those that may be reading Rex Morgan, MD. The critical argument that he makes is in the power of "pop science" to influence the public.

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

The Anatomy of Comics - Part 1

A few quick comments about the author of the book I'll be taking notes on, Scott McCloud:

From Wikipedia: Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod on June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium. He is most notable for his non-fiction books about comics, Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics, for which he has been called the "Marshall McLuhan of comics." ...He is best known as a comics theorist or as some say, the "Aristotle of comics",[6] following the publication in 1993 of Understanding Comics, a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics, itself in comics form.

And a few separate comments on the book, Understanding Comics:

From Wikipedia: "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is a 215-page non-fiction comic book, written and drawn by Scott McCloud and originally published in 1993. It explores the definition of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in which these elements have been used. It discusses theoretical work on comics (or sequential art) as an artform and a communications medium. It also uses the comic medium for non-storytelling purposes."

Notes from: McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 2-59.

McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The
Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 9.
Retrieved from: motleyvision.org

• While stories told in picture form have been around for thousands of years, it wasn't until printing was established that the medium could be enjoyed by everyone and not just the wealthy (p. 16)
• McCloud gives credit to Rodolphe Topffer as the father of modern comics, defining them as using panel borders, cartooning, and interdependent combinations of words and pictures
• Goethe criticized Topffer for choosing a "frivolous subject" and ignored is works as anything worth potential (p. 17)
• A useful definition of comics: "Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in a viewer." This means that single panels are CARTOONS, and not COMICS. (p. 20)
• Cartoons = "an approach to picture-making... a style"; Comics = "a medium which often employs that approach" (p. 21)
• An icon is "any image that used to represent a person, place, thing or idea." (p. 27)
• Pictorial icons are variable in the sense that they differ from the real life appearnce in varying degrees (p. 28)
• McCloud asks the question, why do we respond to abstract/simplified icons as much - or more so - than the drawings which are more realistic? He suggests that with simplification the artist is able to amplify characteristics that might otherwise be lost in a more complicated, life-like image (p. 29-30). Cool, right?!

McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 30. Retrieved from: idrawdigital.com

• Cartoons allow us to focus our attention on a idea, and have a universal characteristic (the more cartoony a face, the more it could look like a greater number of people) (p. 31)
• Also incredible is our ability to see faces in the most non-human structures (picture an outlet!) - what's better is that it's almost impossible NOT to see faces in inanimate objects (p. 32)
• When we converse, we have an awareness of our own face even when looking at our speaking partner - however, it's a much less detailed image - more of a "sketchy arrangement... a cartoon"!! So when we enter the world of cartoons and comics, we see ourselves. (p. 36) Is your mind blown? Mine is.
• When less realism is in the drawing, then the message becomes more important than who/what it's coming from (p. 37)
• Cartoons hold an advantage of breaking into pop culture due to the degree of audience identification, an indicator of audience involvement (p. 42); furthermore, the background has more latitude in how real it appears because we do not identify with brick walls or landscapes. "This combination allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world. One set of lines to see. Another set of lines to be." (p. 43)
• The total "pictorial vocabulary" can be defined within a triangle, the vertices being reality, language and object/picture (p. 51)



McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 51.
Retrieved from: xradiograph.com

• An artists values can be extrapolated from where in the triangle their art lies: nature = lower left (reality), art = top (object/picture), ideas = lower right (language) (p. 57)
• Mention of Marshall McLuhan - to be researched! Quick peak on Wiki describes him critical in the study of media theory (p. 59)

I haven't yet figured out how to add pictures to the blog using my mobile app yet (yay, iPad) - but as soon as I do I'll come back and make this a little more fun, especially since this is such a visually-oriented discussion on comics.

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1975 Comic Strips: A Summary

Source*: Curtis, Dal. Rex Morgan, MD. 13 Jan - 31 Dec 1975, Publishers-Hall Syndicate (Chicago, IL). 
*p. 517-574 on disk from King Features Syndicate.


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

• January 1 - 13: MISSING
• January 13 - 15: Ben Salvo
• It appears the Salvo story still continues - Rex is talking to a young lady named Jenny, who's in a hospital bed. Ben has left her a small trust, even when he knew she was with a man named Al Davison (Ben must have been in love with Jenny?)
• It's hard to say what happened in this story
• January 16 - May 29: Carl Holden, mental illness
• Brice Adams is called by a mysterious woman, and he leaves immediately - he meets with a young woman named Christine "Chris" Holden (who we learn is his girlfriend), who is upset that her ex-husband, Carl, has been paroled and wants to see her
• Carl nearly killed a man "and practically made a vegetable out of another"
• Carl takes the day off with Chris, but Carl follows them
• February 2 - 9: MISSING
• It appears Carl is being respectful about his apologies to Chris and her interest in Brice
• Carl calls Rex out to his farmhouse when his worker, Eddie, has a coronary - Chris is worried that he's falling back into his old ways

Rex Morgan, MD - March 19, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• Carl has a breakdown and threatens Rex that Brice needs to stay away from his "wife"

Rex Morgan, MD - April 25, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• Carl gets in a fight with both Brice and the cops, who are now chasing him after he sped off when he could not produce a license when pulled over for speeding
• We miss a critical week in the suspense of what will happen to Carl - Chris is on her way to the farmhouse against advice, and Carl is waiting with a shotgun
• May 17 - May 25: MISSING
• The situation seems to have been resolved, with Carl being hospitalized - given a good prognosis being put on lithium

Rex Morgan, MD - May 27, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• May 29 - xxx: Keith Cavell, back in town, and introducing Valerie Layne
• As Keith leaves his hotel room, he overhears the owner being held up at gunpoint
• "As Dr. Keith Cavell thwarts an early morning motel holdup, he is shot by one gunman!"
• Keith was passing through town on his way to see a woman, Valerie Layne, whom he'd met in Africa with her husband
• Mr. Layne died in a plane crash 10 days prior, and Keith was visiting her to make sure she was okay; Valerie comes to him since he's hospitalized
• When suggesting Keith join Rex's practice he mentions that he may not like it because "medicine has changed in the last few years" - he goes on to mention malpractice

Rex Morgan, MD - July 7, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• While Keith is preparing to propose, Valerie learns her husband's plane crash was due to sabotage, and that she's falling in love with Rex - what a day!
• Melissa has another "heart flutter"
• Keith is upset with Rex, thinking that he's moving in on Valerie
• Rex goes with Valerie to meet the investigator on Bill's death in the plane crash
• I find myself feeling very protective over Rex - I get angry when he flirts with anyone but June!
• For the first time, we learn that Rex Morgan is bad at something - mechanics! I guess he is human, after all.

Rex Morgan, MD - October 8, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• Luckily, Valerie seems to be quite the mechanic - for claiming she knows nothing about planes, I'd say she's incriminating herself in her husband's death
• The story is cut short, but here's the last strip we have in the story:

Rex Morgan, MD - October 25, 1975    © King Features Syndicate

• If I had to guess, they probably nail Valerie for sabotaging her husband's plane - I hope that Rex and Keith made up, and that stories were set straight (Rex was not trying to hit on Valerie, as Keith suspected...)
• October 26 - December 28: MISSING
• December 29 - 31: (see 1976)