Mr. De Haven's sympathy is clearly with the largely unsung and crassly exploited comic-strip artists and writers, a cavalcade of blithe spirits and tortured souls who want only to ply their beloved craft but must do so while coping with the effects of business, politics and star egos. Just as lovingly re-created is the 1930's New York lingo that colors the dialogue. In his cover art and full-page frontispiece, and in the frieze of characters that is repeated across the top of every page, the witty and sly Art Spiegelman has supplied a tantalizing glimpse of what the ''Derby Dugan'' strip might have looked like. But Mr. De Haven's novel brims with life and characters, and it's also a useful contribution to social history. It reminds us of what a vital and culturally potent force comic strips once were and, by contrast, how lazy and vacant are the people who produce their latter-day descendants.
Commerce wins again.