Rex Morgan, M.D.

Rex Morgan, M.D.

Marvin Bradley and Frank Edgington's Rex Morgan, M.D. (April 19, 1953)
Author(s) Nicholas P. Dallis
Current status / schedule Running
Launch date 1948
Syndicate(s) King Features Syndicate
Genre(s) Soap opera

Rex Morgan, M.D. is an American soap-opera comic strip, created in 1948 by psychiatrist Dr. Nicholas P. Dallis under the pseudonym Dal Curtis. It maintained a readership well over a half-century, and in 2006 it was published in more than 300 U.S. newspapers and 14 foreign countries, according to King Features Syndicate. The strip's look and content was influenced by the work of Allen Saunders and Ken Ernst on Mary Worth.[1] In 2013, Rex Morgan, M.D. celebrated its 65th year in print.

The story centers on Dr. Rex Morgan, who moved in 1948 to the fictional small town of Glenwood to take over a late friend's practice. Helping him grapple with a dizzying array of medical problems is his old friend's office manager and nurse, June Gale. Morgan and Gale collaborated in resolving the medical and emotional problems of patients and friends over the years. They finally married in 1995, and had their first child, a daughter they named Sarah June Morgan, several years later.[2] Their second child, Michael Dallis Morgan, was introduced on 29 November 2015. Rex and June now operate their own free clinic. They have a dog named Abbey.

The strip has long been praised for its blunt tackling of social issues and taboo subjects, such as drug abuse, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, organ transplants, adoption and sexual harassment. The story's constant realism about these issues has led groups such as the Leahy Foundation to use Rex Morgan as a teaching tool. In the case of the Leahy Foundation, the strip has been used to teach their students about epilepsy at Harvard University. Some issues, particularly in the strip's early years, proved too controversial. In 1950, the Newark News refused to run one series in which a nurse tried to euthanize her sick father. The paper wrote that the sequences "dealt with an attempted mercy killing and had no place on this comic page." [3]

In recent years, the story plots have moved away from strictly medical themes, as Rex and June alternate in stories, confronting threats and danger from a variety of malfeasants. A popular story took place in 2006, in which longtime character Dr. Troy Gainer was revealed to be a fraud.

Dallis claimed he created the strip to inform the general public about medical issues in an entertaining manner. For instance, one continuity from the early 1970s depicted the plight of an attractive young woman who frequently experienced gaps of "missing time": Morgan swiftly diagnosed her as suffering from petit mal, an obscure but genuine form of epilepsy.

Reportedly, some readers accurately diagnosed themselves with illnesses after reading about those same illnesses in the strip. Dallis went on to create the equally long-running strips Apartment 3-G and Judge Parker.

The name for the strip was inspired by the real life Rex S. Morgan, Sr., the US Army's "chief mortician" and a popular Philadelphia TV personality in the 1960s. [4]

Artists and writers

Dallis died in July 1991. Woody Wilson became the writer. His name appeared in September 1991. From 1948 to 1978, the strip was drawn by Marvin Bradley, with backgrounds by John Frank Edgington. Edgington retired in 1976. Their team was succeeded from 1979 to 1981 by former Terry and the Pirates assistant Frank Springer. Fernando Da Silva briefly took over the strip in 1982, then in 1983 Tony DiPreta became the main artist. In 2000, long-time DC Comics artist Graham Nolan began a 13-year stint. On 30 December 2013, Terry Beatty made his debut as the strip's artist.

Uncredited assistants during the 1970s included Fran Matera, Alex Kotzky and André LeBlanc. With the changes in artists, the character have been known to change appearance. With Nolan's art first appearing in 2000, a complete overhaul of the characters' physical appearances was seen.

Pop culture references

In The Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Homer Simpson is reading the funny pages and comments, "Ah, Rex Morgan, M.D., you have the prescription for the daily blues."

A panel of Calvin & Hobbes dated 9 July 1989, had been modeled after the drawing style of Rex Morgan, M.D., with Calvin and Susie playing "house." When Calvin refuses to cooperate as Susie asks him to pretend Mr. Bun, her stuffed rabbit, is their "baby," she ponders: "I don't see why you'll play pretend with your dumb ol' tiger, but not with Mr. Bun!"

See also

References

  1. ↑ Goulart, Ron. St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture
  2. ↑ "Rex Morgan to Announce His Intentions to June Gale". Morning Edition. National Public Radio. March 3, 1995. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ Operation on the Doctor, Time, Dec.26, 1950
  4. ↑ St. George, Donna "Rex Morgan, 67, Tv Personality During The '60s"
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