I Won’t Pretend These Missiles Are Stars by The Cartoonist Collective

subtitled Life in Iran During the 12-Day War. And, to be more precise, by The Cartoonist Collective in Tehran.

Anonymity grants the artists and writers of The Cartoonist Collective the freedom to say what they really think about the Twelve Day War during which Israel attacked Iran, ostensibly to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities. There’s no chauvinism here, barely even a sense of patriotism. And who can blame a group of people so exhausted by living under threat of annihilation, for something they didn’t do and have little way of changing, and especially not by virtue of having everything taken from them?

These fifteen autobiographical accounts detail the experiences of their authors as they endured the 2025 bombing of their city. Some stayed in Tehran throughout, while many fled, not all willingly. Almost everyone worried about their loved ones. While plenty of anger is directed at the bellicose aggressor playing god with their lives while pretending that they’re being treated fairly (telling people to evacuate before you bomb them does not mitigate the damage you’re inflicting on their lives otherwise,) just as much is directed at a regime that traffics in propaganda and oppression. I know that there are going to be some empathy-deficient and common sense-free morons saying “Well, if they don’t like it, they should change their government” while simultaneously eroding any infrastructure and stability Iranians might have from which to resist an already oppressive state. Too many dipshits don’t understand the efficacy of soft power, and too many of said people are currently in positions of global power.

It’s hard reading this chronicle of pain knowing that Iran is still under attack now. No one is saying that their government is good, but indiscriminately killing ordinary Iranians and otherwise destroying their lives doesn’t make any other political entity look better by comparison. It’s so horrifying having immature idiots be in charge of so much destructive weaponry. There are real people being killed for no reason besides politicians and warmongers’ inability to think through the consequences of their actions.

Trauma and anti-war themes aside, there’s a wide range of focuses and art styles showcased in this book. Whether talking about getting a beloved cat safely out of the city, squabbling with the people you’re forced to take refuge with, or hiding a queer relationship from family, these stories are all heartfelt and deliver a very necessary insight into the lives of people just trying to survive and thrive despite the constant threat of annihilation. The art runs a gamut of styles but mostly leans towards the realistic. The colors are especially excellent throughout, whether using multiple shades or working on a monochromatic scale.

My only note as a Muslim is the weird idea presented in one of the stories that we’re not allowed to donate our bodies to science. We absolutely are! Maybe the prohibition is a Shiah thing? But organ donation especially is encouraged in the branch of Islam I grew up in and maintain, whereas the injection of preservatives into a body that will only poison the ground it’s buried in later is absolutely not. Theological quibble aside, that story did have one of the strongest extended metaphors going with its art, as a woman still searching desperately for answers finds no outlet for her pain.

This powerful collection of personal graphic essays is eminently relatable to anyone with even half a heart and half a brain. Indiscriminate wars of aggression are never the good and rarely the only answer. The costs are always felt most burdensomely by people who are the least likely to affect the change allegedly desired by aggressors, as the exhausted artists of this collective ably show us in this volume.

I Won’t Pretend These Missiles Are Stars by The Cartoonist Collective was published June 16 2026 by Street Noise Books and is available from all good booksellers, including