I Won't Pretend These Missiles Are Stars

The Cartoonist Collective is a group of artists living and creating their art within Iran, led by two comics educators. They use the art of comics to document and share their lives with the world outside of Iran, in order to further our understanding of the reality of life in that region.

“Each story provides insight as to how the 2025 armed conflict . . . affected the creators' daily lives and hte hope and hopelessness they felt. . . . A true feast for the eyes. . . . Readers will find this anthology difficult to put down.”—Starred review Booklist“There are kernels of hope, moments of joy and an overwhelming sense of love—for relatives, for the people of Iran, for life—but there are no happy endings. These are nuanced, engaging stories which deserve full attention, and they are incredibly important to consult as the cycle of violence repeats yet again.”—School Library Journal“Each piece contains the urgency and candid hope for connection of a message in a bottle. It's a collection that demands international attention.”—Publishers Weekly“Raw, beautiful, and another example of the power of the medium and the desperate need to figure out how the hell we can stop all of this madness.”—Yazan al-Saadi, author of Lebanon Is Burning“As the West gleefully beats the drums of war again, it is more necessary than ever to see how war intimately devastates each human life. This is a familiar experience for many in our region, and one which those outside our region seem to have normalized.”—Deena Mohamed, author of Shubeik Lubeik“Powerful testimonies of life in Iran, where citizens are reduced to collateral damage caused by the barbaric violence of the U.S. and Israel, and the repression of their own government, bravely reported in unforgettable comics.”—Jennifer Camper, author of Rude Girls and Dangerous Women“A beautiful, harrowing, and poignant collection of comics that is, unfortunately, all too timely.”—Jesse Mechanic, author of The Last Time We Spoke