Tales from the Heart is the title of a series of comic books, written by Cindy Goff and Rafael Nieves

Rafael Nieves

Rafael Nieves is an American comic book writer, with over twenty years experience in the field. He began his career with the publication of Tales from the Heart, first published by Entropy Enterprises before moving, with issue #3, to Slave Labor Graphics.The series, co-written with Cindy Goff,...

 and illustrated by Seitu Hayden. Told through the eyes of protagonist Cathy Grant, the comics detail the adventures of a Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 volunteer in the Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

 in the mid-1980s. The work explores why so much effort by so many volunteers wrought so little change. Later stories delve into the reign of the mad dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

Jean-Bédel Bokassa , a military officer, was the head of state of the Central African Republic and its successor state, the Central African Empire, from his coup d'état on 1 January 1966 until 20 September 1979...

.

The first two issues of the series were published by Entropy Enterprises in 1987, with nine later issues published by Slave Labor Graphics

Slave Labor Graphics

Slave Labor Graphics is an independent American comic book publisher, well-known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics.-Company history:...

 (from 1988 to 1994). Two color graphic novels, Tales from the Heart of Africa: The Temporary Natives (1990) and A Tale From the Heart of Africa: Bloodlines (1992) were published by Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 (under their Epic Comics

Epic Comics

Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...

 imprint). Bloodlines was nominated for two Eisner Award

Eisner Award

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

s in 1993, for Best Single Issue, Self-Contained Story; and Best Graphic Album — New.