Listen, when you've formatted your comic with a really well done metallic silver foil to the point where the eyes of the main character are subtly embossed as well, you've already won half the battle with me.
Shiny foil aside, One Million Tiny Fires (let's go with OMTF from here on) is a tightly written and solidly executed queer horror story that visits the familiar Lovecraftian stomping grounds of cosmic dread. Specifically, it's very much the Colour Out of Space with some tweaks and finely condensed to 40 pages.
The story follows Bri and her partner Cass who have moved to a small farm in Texas. Life is tough and the story follows their discontentment and dissolving relationship.
After a fight, Cass witnesses a meteorite crashing, and well, we wouldn't have a plot if people didn't immediately investigate downed meteorites in horror stories.
Cass begins to change, becoming both more distant but also more attentive to Bri's sexual needs. It's a short enough story that I don't want to give much more away, but as you could expect of a Lovecraftian cosmic horror story it embraces themes of detachment, nihilism, loneliness, and otherness. Y'know, all the good stuff for an existential breakdown.
I really enjoyed OMTF, partially for Franklin's art and tight pacing and partially because of how concise it is in informing you in all you need to know about the characters so that there is no wasted effort. Franklin knows that horror fans are familiar with this set-up, but not necessarily from this perspective or with this exact type of conclusion.
Definitely worth the $10 and worth checking out if you are a horror fan and want to support an indy creator.
You can purchase OMTF directly from the publisher here.
And you can check out more by Ashley Robin Franklin at:
Comments