The Search for Smilin Ed - Softcover

Starred Review. The fun of the book is the way it constantly darts back and forth across the line between genuine show-business lore (a favorite Deitch theme) and delirious whole-cloth invention. There are stories within stories, unreliable explainers, secret passageways that lead from one part of the tale to another.

Maybe even more than fellow first-wave underground comics creator Crumb, Deitch has maintained his quality. Marvelous stuff.--Ray Olson

The story gets more twisted with every page, though it always makes sense in a Deitch-ian way. Deitch... retains an astonishing ability to tap into the deepest desires of pop-culture junkies, and to show how the satisfaction we seek from nostalgia can lead us to some dark corners of our collective showbiz past.

[A] complex universe of ghosts, aliens, demons, puppets, spiritual leaders, and complicated animal characters..., and in the tradition of Vonnegut, Deitch occasionally places himself in the middle of his own madness. If that sounds a bit meta, that's only the barest tip of the squirmy, lascivious iceberg that Deitch has planned for you.--Collin David

Originally anthologized in 1997 and 1998, The Search for Smilin' Ed is the latest of Kim Deitch's graphic novels to showcase his obsessive burrowing into the nooks and crannies of vintage American popular culture: it explores the wacky world of children's TV shows. Launched on his latest investigation by a remark from his brother, Deitch begins to uncover some truly amazing things about the kiddie-show host and his malevolent sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin (reminiscent of Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob!). Meanwhile, Deitch's muse and nemesis Waldo the Cat abandons Deitch to hang out with some demon buddies, and soon both Waldo and Deitch are closing in on the mysteries of Smilin' Ed and Froggy.

Ranging across the entire 20th century, replete with flashbacks, stories within stories, and guest appearances from other Deitch regulars, The Search for Smilin' Ed is a narrative whirligig that shows Deitch at his wildest and woolliest. For those whose heads have started to spin at the complexity of “Deitch world,” Deitch scholar Bill Kartalopoulos offers a lengthy essay on the ins and outs of this ever-evolving, ever-expanding world where fantasy, reality, and satire combine, clash, and are sometimes downright indistinguishable.