The attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed, is a grossly outsized reaction by fools who can't take a joke.

They are thin-skinned bullies screaming at us from a position of weakness because they don't like some lines on a page.

Yet it is an attack on free speech that strikes at the heart of every newsroom, at every drawing pad.

Regardless of protestations that we will all continue as before, cartoonists and illustrators will just pause for a second to think.

And then they will say bugger it all, and draw what they intended any way.

Cartoonists the world over reacted in just that way - with lines on a page.

David Pope of The Canberra Times drew first about 2am, unable to sleep. As always with Pope, he captured the moment perfectly.

Je Suis Charlie, the saying now goes. Those who tried to silence a quirky French satirical newspaper have failed, just as all of these attacks do every time.

We've seen that with spontaneous protests around the world and that, for every person slaughtered, scores take their place.

Just as for every cartoon voice that is silenced, many more will surface.

The Herald's Cathy Wilcox, on annual leave, was awoken at 6.40am by the ABC and asked for her opinion. It was the first she'd heard of the attack, a blow that was extra personal as she knew cartoonists now dead.

One other cartoonist suggested we publish a cartoon showing the prophet Muhammad, an idea I counselled against. 

We shouldn't be scared into self-censorship, but neither should we use it as an excuse to incite or vilify. We must remember that this is the work of crazed individuals rather than reflective of Islam.

Stéphane Charbonnier, the paper's publishing director, was among those killed. He had been under 24-hour police guard since 2012 when the paper printed cartoons depicting Muhammad. He once said he was more likely to be run over by a bike than assassinated. He knew the threat was real - you can't exactly pretend you don't have a 24-hour police guard - but Charb chose to keep on scribbling.

The same is true for his colleagues, and cartoonists and illustrators the world over.

It is their job to critique and ridicule. To make those in positions of pomposity and power feel uncomfortable.

To those at Charlie Hedbo who became victims of a stupid carnage, we salute you.

Matt Martel is Executive Editor for Photography and Presentation at the Herald, a department that includes many of Fairfax's cartoonists. 

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