Meeting June

This week begins a new story in the Rex Morgan strip, in which Sarah asks Rex how he and June first met. Above you should see a strip from May 14, 1948 in which Rex meets June for the first time. It was the Thursday strip from the very first week of the feature. 47 years later they were married. 

But as far as I’m concerned that’s not the same Rex and June we’re reading about today. Even accounting for slower moving “comic strip time,” it makes no sense to me that this couple who were already working as health professionals in 1948 could still be the fairly young parents we see in today’s feature.

So, I’m rewriting the past. Or simply telling an untold story about the modern day Rex and June — however you want to look at it. Either way, this will be a brand new story — and I hope you’ll find it entertaining.

The reason this story is appearing now, frankly, has to do with COVID-19. Some of you know that the strip is prepared some two months in advance. So as I was nearing the end of writing and drawing the Truck Tyler story — and the coronavirus began sweeping across the US — I was struggling with the unfortunate coincidences between my walking pneumonia story (“cough cough!”), and the reality of COVID-19. And I also realized that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to write effectively about Rex and company dealing with the virus, when I had no way to know what would be happening in the real world in that regard two months in the future.

So — we have a fanciful flashback, told by Rex and June to Sarah — and long-time fans may be surprised to see a long-absent face or two among the characters appearing in the tale. I will say no more on that matter — you’ll have to wait and see.

And when this story runs its course (in two months time) we may very well see how COVID-19 has impacted our comic strip crew. Stick around and see.