Duncan & Mallory

    (Starblaze, 1986)
™ and ©1986 Robert Asprin and Mel White

Take writer Robert Asprin, mix vigorously with artist Mel White, inker Colleen winters, colorist Jane Fancier, and letterer Johnny Amburn and you get Duncan & Mallory: a clumsy but lovable knight and a con-artist CPA dragon. After meeting in a turnip field, they scheme to defraud another knight, a pair of card sharks, and an entire town—all in an attempt to get the gold needed to buy a paddle-whel steam boat as a base of operations.

The charm and wit of the pair are enhanced by the copious use of background clues. The include sound effects like whistling, “We’re in the Money” inside of word balloons, as well as turnips used as olives in martinis, and candles in thought balloons to indicate new (often dubious) ideas.

— Carl Tietz
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