13 Powerful 'Charlie Hebdo' Tributes In Pictures

In solidarité with the 12 people killed by terrorists at the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris this week, artists around the world expressed sorrow, anger, and most often defiance in their tributes to their fallen colleagues. While there were plenty of photographs showing grieving Parisians and police on the hunt for the suspects, some of the most widely-shared images in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings were those created by cartoonists and artists.

Many mainstream media outlets chose not to use controversial cartoons from Charlie Hebdo but across Twitter, Instagram and Flickr, a common theme emerged among cartoonists: The pen is mightier than the sword (or, in this case, the gun).

Even as the manhunt for the suspects continued in Paris Friday until all three were killed, leaving many frightened for their safety, cartooonists and artists would not be censored. The suspects were cornered and eventually killed in a shootout with police in Paris late Friday, ending the state of emergency in France's capital. But the mourning period for the victims of the attacks was far from over.

One of the most-shared images on Friday was the cover of the upcoming issue of the New Yorker, depicting Paris' iconic Eiffel Tower sharpened to a bloodied pencil point.

It was clear that many cartoonists were angry:

But some of the most powerful images were those of quiet determination and resolve:

While others offered images showing the strength of numbers:

The most commonly-shared image of white letters on a black background spelling out "je suis charlie" ("I am Charlie") became the visual rallying cry, and was translated into numerous languages.

The city of Paris tweeted a photo of the iconic Arc de Triomphe lit up with the phrase:

By Friday afternoon, the hashtag #jesuischarlie became one of the most-used in Twitter's history.

Image: Rebel Gique/Flickr, @NewYorker/Twitter, @DavPope/Twitter @RteeFufkin/Twitter; @RobFornoe/Twitter; @SebTantiBurlo/Twitter, @Lucille_Clerc/Instagram; @patrickgwalsh/Instagram; @corybasil/Instagram; @ilovemaki/Instagram, Getty Images (2)