Charlie Hebdo is heading stateside.
Starting Friday, a precious few copies of France’s satirical magazine will become available across the U.S. in a special edition printed in the wake of the terror attacks on Paris. Montreal-based distributor LMPI is securing 300 copies of this week’s edition to distribute throughout the United States.
It’s being called the “survivor’s edition” — the first printed since the gruesome attacks on the magazine’s headquarters last Wednesday. A total of 12 people died that day, including the magazine’s top editor and cartoonists, in an attack over a caricature drawn on the previous week’s cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad, a move that many Muslims consider blasphemous.
RELATED: Members of Muslim community in Paris call out Charlie Hebdo cover
In claiming responsibility for the attack at Charlie Hebdo, in addition to the deadly scenes carried out at a Kosher supermarket and print shop in the outskirts of Paris, a top Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) warned about further “insults” against the prophet.
Still, the Charlie Hebdo survivors are not stopping. In this week’s cover, cartoonist Renald Luzier once again depicts the Prophet Muhammad for the magazine; this time, he’s drawn shedding a single tear. In his hands is a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie” — meaning “I am Charlie” — a phrase that became a rallying cry of solidarity in the aftermath of the attacks. Above the cartoon the headline reads “Tout est Pardonne” or “All is Forgiven.”
Publishers say that on a typical week, the magazine releases around 60,000 copies. This week, 3 million copies were printed in numerous languages for readers across the globe. As many as 5 million more copies are on their way, CNBC reports. In Paris, lines of people gathered outside bookstores and newsstands. The first few copies printed sold out within minutes. RELATED: ‘The Muhammad that we drew is a man crying’ The edition’s availability is even more tight across the United States, where only a handful of major cities — New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles among others — were able to secure a few copies. The high demand has led to rampant backdoor sales online. On eBay, the coveted magazine sold for as high as $117,000 — for a single copy.
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