SUPERMAN isn't always on the same page as an order for a Chinese takeaway in Glasgow, but in Vincent Deighan's world, it happens. The proof is now in a glass case as part of a major new exhibition called Frank Quitely: The Art of Comics at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

This short order for chicken satay, chicken fried rice, boiled rice and fish and chips is jotted at the top of a dog-eared scrap of paper filled with doodles of Superman sketched by Deighan's alter ego, Frank Quitely.

Frank Quitely. The name is a word play on the phrase Quite Frankly and was adopted by Deighan almost 30 years ago in case his family were offended by his risqué cartoon creation, The Greens, which he drew for the underground Glasgow comic, Electric Soup. The Greens were an extreme version of the Sunday Post's legendary comic strip stars, The Broons, as drawn by Dudley D Watkins, which Deighan adored as a boy.

To millions of comic book fans, 49-year-old Quitely is the superhero artist who brings their favourite characters to glorious colourful life. Batman, Superman, Judge Dredd and X-Men are just a few of his creations for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, but as this new exhibition shows, what lies beneath his comic creations is hard graft, superpower-like draftsmanship and dogged self-belief.

When I visited last Sunday morning with my comic book fan assistant, Keifer Brown, aged 11, the ground floor of Kelvingrove was buzzing louder than a Batmobile engine.

Judging by the enthusiasm with which this exhibition was met during our visit, I think it has the makings of a blockbuster. I'll eat my hat if it's not celebrated at future academic conferences as a shining example of how to breathe life into the dull and dusty discipline of "audience engagement".

Expect no chin-stroking or existential posing. I witnessed genuine joy and wonder from visitors as they ambled around the show, trying on Superman outfits and posing in front of a giant digital Quitely mural of Kelvingrove before sitting themselves down to try their hand at designing their own superheroes. And we're not just talking about junior visitors here…

As well as masses of drawings, paintings and archival material from Meighan's back catalogue, it also talks out his relationship with fellow Scots comic book heroes in the shape of writers like Alan Grant, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar.

Other exhibits include an edition of the world's oldest comic book, The Glasgow Looking Glass, published in 1825, which puts Glasgow on the map as the birthplace of the modern comic book. There's also original Tippex-spattered drawings of Oor Wullie and The Broons by legendary DC Thomson artist Dudley D Watkins, which speaking personally made me almost weep with the short sharp shock of nostalgic recognition.

The minute you see them, you can see the influence on Quitely. Thrown into this comic melting pot is work by titans of the comic book genre, including Frank Miller and Neal Adams, and an original Batman comic strip by the superhero’s creators Bob Kane with Bill Finger.

Randomly, Christopher Reeve's Superman cape from Mark Millar's personal collection is on show, close to an Alasdair Gray pencil, ink and watercolour, called Archie Hind on the Banks of the Clyde, Dalmarnock Power Station Behind. This 1977 work depicts a sleeping boy (based on Gray's then 13-year-old son, Andrew) with a Batman comic and Striker Cola bottle in the foreground. Hind, author of The Dear Green Place, is standing cross-armed stage left, looking wistfully to the side. Gray, with his precise graphic line and particularly Scottish view of the world, has been a huge influence on Deighan.

It's all a bit of a visual riot, but quite frankly, who cares? At the heart of it, lies Deighan's artwork. Like Gray before him, Kelvingrove was a Mecca to the young Vin Deighan, who attended the Glasgow School of Art briefly after leaving St Brides High School in East Kilbride. Seeing work by the likes of Rembrandt and Salvador Dali clearly left a huge impression.

Drawing is at the heart of his practice (although I fervently hope Deighan doesn't call it his practice). He grabs onto the written instructions of Grant, Morrison or Miller and runs with them. On one dog-eared, sketch-spattered manuscript, Morrison has written: "Superman rubs the sweat drop between finger and thumb. Eyes wide with wonder."

And then, as if by magic, you see on a DC Comics formatted frame-by-frame tearsheet, that Deighan has recreated this scene with all the mastery of a modern-day Michelangelo. Working from the traditional base of drawing, his page layouts bristle with movement and devilishly fine detail. Computers have their place but his hand is all over the artwork.

Speaking of which, Deighan is a dab-hand with perspective and hands, which can be a trip wire for the elite of the art world. Impossible angles are also a speciality. One layout for 1998 series Batman: The Scottish Connection, written by Alan Grant, shows an aerial view of Rosslyn Chapel. Humour also rises to the top. In a map of Scotland, he's had fun with fake Scottish town names, introducing the town of Keech into the picture and making sure his home town of Rutherglen is represented.

Even if you think you know nothing about comic art (like me), The Art of Comics is a riot of Zap! Pow! Boom! inventiveness and skill. As Kiefer, my caped assistant put it succinctly: "People just think they're comic books but they don't realise how much work goes into them."

Frank Quitely: The Art of Comics, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, until October 1.

glasgowmuseums.com