Charlie Hebdo's first edition after a massacre that killed 12 staffers last week will be published in 3 million copies and distributed Wednesday, the team said at a news conference in Paris.
The new edition will be published digitally in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The newspaper has also associated itself with Italian and Turkish publications to run a printed version in those countries.
"Turkey is going through a difficult time, and secularity is under attack there, and secularity is under attack in what we're living here," said Editor-in-Chief Gérard Briard, who was in London during the attack.
Staying true to the newspaper’s satirical tone, the team made a lot of jokes during Tuesday's emotionally charged event.
"We'd like to thank all our new subscribers, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. ... And thank you to [George] Clooney, he can subscribe, this way all the women at the paper will have his address," Briard joked, livening up the room.
Artist Renald “Luz” Luzier, who came to work late on the day of the attack and drew the new front cover, mentioned several times that the attackers just lacked a sense of humor.
Luz also spoke about the genesis of the new front page. "I honestly didn't know if I could still draw," he said.
"We needed a front page that would make us laugh. ... I had Muhammad, he was holding a sign, 'Je suis Charlie,' and he was crying... [long pause] And I wrote 'all is forgiven' above. And I cried. I drew and I cried and we had our fucking homepage. I'm sorry, we drew him again."
"I have no worries about the topic of the front page,” Luz added. “Because I trust that people are smart."
Luz said he hopes all the magazine's supporters will keep expressing their freedom of speech.
"If Charlie's spirit was in these 3 or 4 million people who marched on Sunday, let them show it. Let them show it in drawings, in newspapers, on paper. Go to a newsstand, buy Charlie Hebdo, and buy another paper, treat yourself. But don't buy something shitty, alright?"
