If anyone follows our website or podcast close enough you know I have a strong love for The Recount by Jonathan Hedrick. This love continues with his latest release Caffeinated Hearts on Source Point Press.

The 24-page one-shot was written by the dynamic duo of Hedrick and artist Stefano Cardoselli with letters by Jerome Gagnon. The same artist/writer collaboration of The Space Cadet on Scout Comics’ imprint Scoot as well as Freakshow Knight.

Caffeinated Hearts is the perfect slice-of-life comic with an excellent way of telling multiple short stories with one main character intertwining with random strangers lives.

The main character Amarella, better know as Ellie, is a barista at a local coffee shop who has amazing customer service skills and seems to care a lot about her customers. She goes out of her way to connect with people and impact their day with the simple task of serving them coffee.

Caffeinated Hearts is broken up into four different stories with Ellie as the main reason for these stories to be told. The book starts with “Balance” where Ellie chats with a man down on his luck, next is “Forward” with the typical pay-it-forward style story, followed by “Relax” as we take part in Ellie’s lunch break. Lastly, the book finishes up with the properly name “Finish” which is a climatic end to the long day of working in customer service.

Hedrick’s ability to allow us to care about this characters while Cardoselli’s abstract watercolor style artwork allows you to get lost in the cyberpunk style coffee shop. The book hits a little harder as my life has been intertwined with the world of retail sales and customer service. It hits a bit harder having lived through some of these tales.

Ellie tells us fun and heartwarming stories all in a days work.

Make sure you tell your local comic book shop to order you a copy of Caffeinated Hearts from Source Point Press and read the pick-me-up story when the books releases on October 26, 2022.

Also, read The Recount.

Each week we head to Galactic Comics and Collectibles in Bangor, Maine to grab a selection of comics. The pull list this week features a number of amazing books, but we are most excited for Ghost Rider Vengeance Forever #1 from Marvel Comics.

Ghost Rider Vengeance Forever #1

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF VENGEANCE! Johnny Blaze, still reeling from his time in Hayden’s Falls, seeks the counsel of a seer – named Necro the Tattooist – who uses his needle to bring dark truths to the surface. What follows is not only a wild tour through Ghost Rider’s lost history, but also a warning about the future and an examination of the troubling weight of legacy.

From writer Ben Percy (X-Force, Wolverine), artist Juan Jose Ryp (Nightwing, Rai), and cover artist Bjorn Barends (Spawn, Carnage) .

Here is our list:

Galactic Comics and Collectibles is located at 547 Hammond Street, Bangor, Maine.

What is a Pull List?

A pull list is an agreement for reservation of particular comic books each week/month between a customer and the retailer. It’s a helpful system as it creates a means for all comics you read regularly to be reserved so you will not miss out on any issues.

The ‘Golden Rage #1‘ solicitation is one of the great reasons we get solicitations before purchasing a book and it proved to be a purchase well worth the cost of admission.

In a world where older women who’ve been deemed useless to society are abandoned on an island, Golden Rage documents their golden years of making friends, baking dessert, and fighting to the death. The solicitation ends with the most amazing comparison…Battle Royale meets The Golden Girls. The best comparison of a comic book since the amazing Stray Dogs comparisons.

Golden Rage was created by writer Chrissy Williams (editor of Die, The Wicked + The Divine), artist Lauren Knight (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and colorist Sofie Dodgson (Bitter Root, Tank Girl). The first issue of a brand-new five-issue miniseries hit local comic book shops on Wednesday, August 3.

The book has a similar base to some other stories we have read in the past, post-apocalyptic storyline in an every person for themselves world. However, this book has a different feel than those other stories. Elderly women, or women past their child-bearing years, fighting each other to survive.

In the first issue Jay, a younger woman, is lost on this island and taken in by three elderly women, but not fully with open arms. This is a fight for survival and taking care of another person can lead to challenges on their own. The three ladies to take in Jay are well written characters with each of their own unique personalities.

Golden Rage’s different take the post-apocalyptic allows for you to be drawn into the story. In addition, Williams, Knight and Dodgson threads in messages about women and aging which gives depth to theme that could’ve got lost in a crowd of comic books.

The first issue was a little slower than we wouldn’t wanted, but the story and art allows the reader to leave issue one with the anticipation of wanting to know what happens in the rest of the five-issue series. If you weren’t sold on Battle Royale meets The Golden Girls already, we hope to tell you the book is worth the read.

Don’t expect your grandma to pick up this book and take a glance, but Golden Rage can be picked up at your LCS via Image Comics and if it’s not in-stock have your shop order it for you! Be sure to add the book to your pull list so you don’t miss the second issue set to be released on September 7, 2022.