THE DEEP, DETAILED WORLD OF DEITCH

Art Spiegelman, the author of "Maus" and this era's underground comics rags-to-riches hero, calls the work of Kim Deitch "one of the best-kept secrets in comics for over 35 years."

Chris Ware, the Chicago-based pen-man whose ultra-original "Jimmy Corrigan" strips and graphic novel have rocketed him to popularity, compares reading Deitch's "stuff" to "taking a big gulp of pure, unadulterated imagination." "Like discovering an old movie on television on a grey Saturday afternoon at your grandmother's house that you hope won't ever end," he wrote in a promotional blurb.

Thing is,…