Hearts of Africa

By Cindy Goff & Rafael Nieves & Seitu Hayden (Slave Labor Graphics)
ISBN/ASIN: B0006S0NKI

After the rapid spread of specialised comics retailers during the early 1980s, many start-up publishing companies began competing for the attention and cash of punters who had grown accustomed – or resigned – to getting their on-going picture-periodicals from DC, Marvel, Archie and/or Harvey Comics.

At the same time European, Japanese and domestic non-mainstream material had been creeping in from such young upstarts as WaRP Graphics, Pacific, Eclipse, Capital, Now, Comico, Dark Horse, First and many others, producing a creative globalisation in what had once been a purely anodised and painfully insular Middle-American milieu. New talent, established stars and fresh ideas all found a thriving forum, open to new ideas and different takes on what had come before. Thus when a realistic, biographical, non-fantasy small-scale drama set in the exotic wonderland of Africa began to appear, certain sections of the comics cognoscenti were ready and willing to give the new thing a shot.

It certainly didn’t hurt that it was so compellingly good…

As I’ve constantly stated, the period was an incredibly fertile time for American comics-creators. It was as if an entire new industry had been born with the proliferation of the Direct Sales market and dedicated specialist shops; new companies were experimenting with format and content and potential fans even had a bit of extra cash to play with after they’d bought their regular four-colour fixes.

Moreover much of the “kid’s stuff” stigma had abated and the English-speaking countries were finally catching up to the rest of the world in acknowledging that sequential narrative might just be a for-real actual art-form. There were even signs that whole new comics-genres might be being born…

One of the most critically acclaimed, profoundly moving and just plain fun features came from an industry innocent named Cindy Goff who, with long-time comics aficionado Rafael Nieves and extremely talented artistic newcomer Seitu Hayden, produced a mildly fictionalised account of her two years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Africa which took the comic world by storm.

Actually it should have but didn’t: however those in the know like Archie Goodwin and Neil Gaiman spotted the potential and sheer quality of the feature and championed it for years.

Eventually Epic Comics published a pair of all-new full-colour graphic novels – Tales from the Heart of Africa: The Temporary Natives in 1990 and A Tale From the Heart of Africa: Bloodlines (1992 and nominated for two Eisner Awards: Best Single Issue, Self-Contained Story and Best Graphic Album-New).

The original little epic began with two self-published issues as Entropy Enterprises in 1987 before Tales From the Heart moved over to Slave Labor Graphics, who were rapidly establishing themselves as one of the most innovative and outré players amongst the burgeoning morass of independent publishers. They produced a further 9 issues between 1988-1994 before finally calling it a day; no doubt as bewildered and disappointed as the rest of us at the stubborn intransigence of a comics clientele which refused to see beyond busty sword-swinging bad-girls and cybernetic, gun-toting mutant maniacs…

In 1994 Slave Labor published one last hurrah in the form of this stunning oversized (278 x 218mm) monochrome paperback, reprinting the first three instalments of the saga complete with an informative afterword by Goff and an impassioned introduction by Gaiman.

From 1983-1985 Cindy Goff and a select group of young Americans were trained and then let loose to work in the strangest place they had ever been. Those personal experiences were synthesised for comics readers beginning with ‘Prologue: Every Now & Then…’ as sheltered Minneapolis girl Cathy Grant wakes up and realises that she is really now a resident of the Central African Republic…

Her mind wanders back to the unique training and conditioning which began in ‘D.C. to Disease’, meeting fellow volunteers Karen, Constance, Julie and others ranging from qualified nurses to demure debutantes. The trials of learning French and the native tongue Shango are balanced by the nauseating terror of discovering all about the various disgusting bugs and maladies that can kill or debilitate, before finally they all embark for Africa in ‘Silverbox!’

Indoctrination, acclimatisation and assimilation follow before ‘Later in the Daze’ further hilariously and empathically examines the effects of culture shock on the pampered waifs fresh from the New World…

Learning daily and rapidly realising they are as much students as teachers to the “primitive” Africans, the volunteers slowly become comfortable until after only a few months the girls are split up for their final postings and Cathy learns to stand on her two feet in ‘Fits & Starts’

Although a perfect place to end the initial collection there were no others and the further tales remain uncollected to this day.

Later episodes examined the ultimate inefficacy of the Peace Corps Program and the horrific reign of Jean-Bédel Bokassa (a despotic dictator believed insane by the rest of the world and a cannibal by his own people), but these opening sallies dwell gloriously and charmingly on the eye-opening wonder of well-meaning innocents abroad in an utterly alien environment: an advertisement for American intervention the country should be proud to commemorate.

This delightful true tale is joyously filled with good-hearted people trying their best to understand each other and get on with life in harmony. Try and find any other non-kiddie American comicbook of the period that can say that…

Emphatically human, effectively documentarian and addictively readable, Tales From the Heart is long-overdue for a complete collected edition and the need for such illuminating stories and attitudes has never been greater. At least this time the genre of graphic autobiography is recognised and valued and we know that there is a ready audience for something more than implausible men in tights constantly refighting the same battle…
™ & © 1994 Cindy Goff & Rafael Nieves. Cover © 1994 Jill Thompson.