Deitch has long shown an affinity for the Kenneth Anger view of Hollywood Babylon (he once did a weekly alternative press strip entitled "Hollywoodland"), which shows up in a series of subplots surrounding the other denizens of Fontaine studios. The mysterious defenestration of Reba Fontaine, wife of the studio head, gets repeatedly revisited like one of the career-busting scandals from Anger's famous chronicle of movietown excess. The fortunes of Fontaine Studios - its unsuccessful attempts to ape the Disney style at the expense of more honest artists like Mishkin, its union-busting activities that led to Lillian's dismissal, its later revival as a source for pop culture geegaws - parallels the unfortunate trajectory of studios like Fleischer, whose more unique visions were demolished by the Disney monolith. Deitch's genius lies in his ability to make us care about these long-lost battles, to see the squandered potential and the heartbreak of putting your life in an industry that doesn’t give a rat's ass for personal expression.

As an early figure in the underground comix movement and the son of a Terrytoons animator, Deitch is uniquely qualified to look at this enduring conflict between art & commerce. Boulevard has been showing up on several comic critics' Top Ten lists for 2002 (including Andrew Arnold's) and for good reason. It's one of the best expressions to date of this energetically eccentric cartoonist's unique take on the highs & lows of pop culture.

(ADDENDUM: For a more detailed discussion of the art & motifs in Deitch's work, check out the first of The Comics Journal's Message Board "book club" discussions, moderated by comics critic/Deitch fan Yakov Chodosh.)