Cartoonists and writers from around the world are reacting as they know best -- by putting pen to paper -- in an outpouring of anguished and biting solidarity with those gunned down at French weekly Charlie Hebdo. Fellow satirists stood up for the right to lampoon whatever they choose as editorialists said Wednesday's attack, which left 12 dead including some of France's best-known cartoonists, targeted the heart of press freedom and democracy. Among the cartoons that went viral online was one by Australia's David Pope: a picture of a gunman with a smoking rifle standing over a body, bearing the caption "He drew first". "Ultimately people who carry out these attacks can't defeat ideas through these means and they won't succeed," Pope wrote, adding that he had once met a cartoonist involved in the shooting and that the attack "hit a nerve". "Our task is to keep doing what we do... focus our satire on those in power and those who seek to wield power in ugly ways like these gunmen and be part of a movement that promotes social solidarity, a free and open and tolerant society."
