LUCIFER'S GARDEN OF VERSES, VOLUME ONE: The Devil on Fever Street

That perennial wellspring of comic inspiration, the prince of darkness, is back. This time, the devil inhabits a b&w world, mostly inked and occasionally Photoshopped. We find Tooks's Lucifer awakening after a hundred-year nap, just in time for Armageddon, which is scheduled to occur a week after the story opens. Lucifer's henchmen, Beelzebub and Belial, are thoroughly up to date Kangol-wearing characters—this Lucifer walks today's urban streets. Eager to get their boss back into top evildoing condition, Lucifer's pals suggest that he re-enter the world of misanthropy by seducing a righteous woman: Black Lily Baptiste, a former prostitute who found God after her pimp beat her unconscious but accidentally left her with a winning lottery ticket. Her faith is strong—so strong, in fact, that when the devil shows up as a muscle-bound yet gentle man wearing a tight black T-shirt, the tables are turned and Lucifer ends up being the one who falls. But just when it looks like the devil really might leave the demonic world, there's a final plot twist. Tooks's story lacks complexity, but the world he draws is an appealing one, its sassy denizens rendered with energy. He's at his best conjuring up secondary players: mischievously ambitious demons, squabbling kids and ancillary characters reading their work at the poetry slam. (Jan.)