The short stories inside of I Won’t Pretend These Missiles Are Stars by Tehran’s Cartoonist Collective deal with the weeks of war between Israel and Iran. Set in Iran, each of the people giving their story has a different way of dealing or not dealing with the events around them. Some worry about the big picture (death), others worry that they never got to wear the special outfit to their presentation. Each author has a unique way of showing what was and wasn’t important to them (they wanted their cat safe, material things of their late mothers means everything). A few contributors focus on the bombs, the actions of themselves, and the aftermath of bombings. Others focus on their family, neighbors and friends. While others take a personal note of how they are separated from partners, their family or are uncomfortable having to move in with family making it 20 or 30 people crowded into small accommodations. Several stories have cats in them and one that is early on and perhaps my favorite example of what was going is that the most important thing in the world is that they make sure their cat has its identification tag so if they get lost, they can be found, but when they cannot find it, they find themselves embroiling a tag that will stay on the cat during a war.
The story Memento Mori has some of the best illustrations and the least direct approach to the events at hand. Each story was emotional, unique, interesting, and while each was their own point of view and story, they have a connection and it is not just the physicality of the bombings and war. The separate stories Nothing and Four had the most abstraction to them, while they were still realistic, just their approach was not what was expected. However, most stories are more reality central with story and imagery. Story Lappe Letters is the one that deals with the cat and embroidery. 
I started this review about half way through reading the collection. I assume that they are strong representatives of those who were the average citizen at the time, though many had ways of leaving the city for hopeful safety away from the center of the horrors. I cannot say we have all walks of life, as most people do seem to be economically middle class, but we get several genders, sexualities, family dynamics, in and out of school, individuals and family groups. 
Art plays a role in many people’s stories as does friends and family. The everyday makes what is happening during these emotional times surreal and the authors and illustrators images continue this surrealness in a visual format. Several panels made me feel unbalanced. Each piece of the puzzle is well presented and hard to deal with, but needed to have experience.
I can’t say this book was enjoyable (as it is anything but). However, there is a satisfaction in knowing you have read the words of the people who lived through this event. You might not understand the horrors of war, but you can walk with them through their memories gaining an understanding. The different voices and images are powerful.
