One Million Tiny Fires

by Ashley Robin Franklin

Fusing sexual intimacy with cosmic dread, this queer horror tale follows Briana and Cassie, a couple in an isolated Texas farmhouse, whose rural fantasy has soured into a tense nightmare. After discovering an unknown object that had crash landed from the sky, Briana begins to suspect that something uncanny is happening to her partner.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Queer, LGBT, Fiction, Adult

40 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2020

About the author

Ashley Robin Franklin is an artist, cartoonist, and illustrator who currently resides in Austin, Texas. She was born in 1990 in the Rio Grande Valley, where she grew up and attended the University of Texas Pan-American. She majored in English literature with an emphasis in Creative writing, and minored in Studio Art.

She writes and illustrates comics, journals, draws, paints, and dabbles with various other artistic projects and mediums (including stamp carving, screen printing, acrylic painting, collage, etc.). Some of her greatest influences include her father, who is an art teacher and painter, manga, anime, films, indie comics, children's books, lowbrow art and tattoo culture, zine/diy culture, the occult, folklore/mythology and literature. She's also very interested in animation, children's book illustration, public art, printmaking and design. Things that make her happy include: travel, dogs, good beer, comics, cartoons, and ghost stories.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

whoa. one of the most absorbing, dynamic graphic novels i've ever read, and it's only a short story! franklin thrusts the reader directly into the messy, intimate, painful everyday of a strained relationship on the cusp of implosion.

the rural lesbian homesteader dream may not be as cozy as it seems.

but then something happens - something supernatural, something from the sky, something that cassie immediately investigates, alone in the dark. when she return she is changed, she's cold, she's dirty. their relationship woes dissolve as briana jumps into caregiver mode, bathing cassie, watching her every move. i love the casual intimacy of them bathing together even during such a confusing crisis.

and things escalate in a supernatural horror way. there is one fantastic page that absolutely sold me on the book, page 38 of 44 in my ebook, a page of such dynamic, disturbing what the fuckery. the art is beautiful and terrifying and draws the eye from place to place. franklin is supremely skilled for this page alone, though the art throughout is beautiful, continually combining twinkling night skies, soft queer bodies, and disturbing otherworldly images.

and, in the end... (SPOILERS)... it turns out cassie has been possessed by the void, she is sheer nothingness inside human skin. the book culminates with briana seeing the reveal, then getting head from the void and thus becoming the void herself. she feels comfort in becoming nothing, empty.

oh, and one of my favorite parts of the story is before the big void reveal, when they have sex and then briana notices her fingering fingers have turned black, voidlike themselves. a big clue and also unapologetically gay as fuck. love it.

time to read everything else ashley robin franklin has written!!

[hope h. · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean it's a cool concept and all and the art was good but it felt so like...abstract and rushed that it just didn't have the emotional impact it needed? unfortunately, i felt much the same about Fruiting Bodies - but really liked The Hills of Estrella Roja! i think this is just an author who needs the breadth of a full book to really nail the emotional punch of a story. looking forward to seeing the next full length work from them

[mads · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wanted to like it more than i did. felt almost rushed at the end. nevertheless, thought it was a good lil read - a creative concept with some really awesome illustrations. plus i love any queer comics i can get my hands on these days.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This LGBTQ+ sci-fi/horror mash-up doesn't necessarily have the most original concept, but I liked the tone of the piece and the exploration of the characters.

[celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexual intimacy and cosmic dread? Queer horror???? Sign me up IMMEDIATELY.
This is a quick read, but you'll want to either take it slow or read it multiple times. ONE MILLINO TINY FIRES creates a claustrophobic and atmospheric little world. The dread is ramped up and deliciously queer.
Can't wait to beg all my friends to read this.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

O.O

[Loki Wylde · Rating 4 out of 5]

First - surprised there was no trigger warnings with this to start for a couple different things. Second - whoa. I picked this up without really reading the premise because I really enjoyed Franklin’s work on Estrella Rojas and love supporting queer and local. Definitely a good read if you like strange and paranormal. Artwork is great and while the story is strange it’s also beautiful. 7/10 just because it does feel a bit rushed but also I would definitely recommend and pick up Franklin’s other works.

[Amanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Million Tiny Fires is a black and white illustrated graphic novel that features a lesbian couple and their trip to enlightenment. It is LGBTQ but not quite sci fi and certainly not YA, sorry, just gonna get abbreviation happy for a minute.

The couple in question appears to be struggling with their relationship while living and working on their farm. We don't get a lot of character development or back story about them, all we know is that they don't appear to be happy with their current situation.

Then an astrological event takes place in their back yard and one of the women begins to change. This sets the couple on a path to potentially bettering their relationship and their lives but not without some sacrifice.

To continue to the full review please visit https://amanjareads.com/2021/07/29/on...

[Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I desperately wished this was longer. The narrative illustrations are phenomenal, the spice was unexpectedly nice, and the expressions are beautiful. It's the kind of sapphic body horror comic I'm always craving, and if this ever gets sequels or adapted to a longer format, I'll be the first one in line for a copy.

[Robin Menzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So gay! So spooky! This hauntingly beautiful read is a short but excellently written queer romance sci-fi. I loved every moment of this story. It's also drawn so well; I am usually not into black and white graphic novels but it just *works* for this one. Here's hoping for more (and longer!) works from Franklin soon!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great queer horror story that's a short and concise repackaging of the Colour Out of Space. Worth checking out if you're in the mood for some cosmic horror.

Full review at:
https://www.trustyhenchman.com/post/r...

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queer. Pastoral. Horror.

[Machteld · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 Liked the drawing, story didn’t blow me away.

[Black Flamed Candle Books 🕯️📚 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really liked the illustration style; it reminded me of Betty & Badgers illustrations on Instagram. Unfortunately, the story felt very fragmented and disjointed. It began very suddenly almost as if the reader is plonked in the middle of a story; I genuinely thought I had accidentally started reading and missed a few volumes but no, that’s just how it began. The ending was also incredibly rushed. I’m thoroughly disappointed. I had such high hopes and was encapsulated by the front cover and thought it would be a beautiful, full-bodied sapphic romance of sorts. However, it’s was about a toxic relationship with (hints of) emotional abuse and manipulation, a sudden plot line about one partner being abducted/replaced by an alien taking their place, followed by a lot of sex. However it’s hard to feel happy for the other main character knowing they’re having unconsentual sex with someone pretending to be their partner. Very strange short story.

Readers note:
I read the ebook, 44 pages.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one weird ass comic, man, and I dug it. Part LGBTQ+ relationship drama, part sci-fi mindfuck, and part body horror freakout, Ashley Robin Franklin's "One Million Tiny Fires" is a melancholy, grotesque graphic novella unlike any other. There's lesbians and farming and some kind of looney "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"-style extraterrestrial possession and it's precisely as awesome as all of that sounds. Franklin's approach to storytelling is as casual as her art, gently inviting the reader in, rather than bashing them over the head with the plot, and letting them revel in the book's ambiguities. I may not completely understand "One Million Tiny Fires" but I know I liked it a lot.

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a short book i really liked it more than i thought i would?? 3.5 for sure. it is sooo gay and sooo sexual nearly porn but like it felt emotional in a way where i could deal with it? it was shocking and left me with the same feeling as fruiting bodies, and i would definitely recommend it to homesteaders and gays bc it kinda was abt those topics. the art was cute and kinda fit a good bit into just 40 short pages. also reminded me kinda of a guest in the house

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
I thought I would like it more than I did. I enjoyed the story and the art but I wanted it to go further, more could have been accomplished as far as the themes it touched upon. I specially wanted a bit more out of the ending. Nevertheless, I liked the concept and I think it's worth reading.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was....surprising.

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsettling to say the least.

[J. Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous one shot. It’s what the Color of Space movie should have been like.

[Seras23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange tiny graphic novel! I like it, but it's definitely weird. I think this is a niche book, but the people who will like it will REALLY like it.

[André Habet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short comic that made me unsettled throughout. Love the ending’s terror and its depiction of a toxic relationship’s wear on those involved.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...so fucking weird. I dig it.

[Kristina McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and interesting story.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird story with interesting art.

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhhhhhhhhh it was okay? Idk it was Alright it just wasn’t much for me… head empty sigh. Liked the full moon one a bit better

[juliette]

sexy existential lesbians

[All Hallows' Queers]

Rep: White sapphic MCs, f/f

[M Aghazarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm into it

[Sucre · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - interesting story but wish it had gone into the horror just a bit more