The lawyer for Charlie Hebdo has said that the memorial edition of the magazine that will come out on Wednesday – with a print run of a million copies – would “naturally” feature cartoons of the prophet Muhammad along with jokes about other religions.

Richard Malka said despite the deaths of nine contributors, including celebrated cartoonists known as Charb, Cabu and Wolinski, the magazine will be created solely by members of the original team. “We will not give in otherwise all this won’t have meant anything,” he told France Info radio on Monday, from the magazine’s heavily guarded temporary offices at Libération newspaper.

Luz, a Charlie cartoonist, said working on the issue was helping him and his colleagues. “We’re getting by. We are having fewer nightmares. We are trying to put a magazine together and find some calm and inspiration, it’s not easy.”

“We are down to a skeleton staff since last Wednesday as you might have noticed but we’ll try our best.” Asked whether he was moved by the vast unity rally on Sunday, Luz said his favourite moment was when a pigeon defecated on the shoulder of the French president, François Hollande, as he addressed the team.

Wednesday’s special edition will be translated into 16 languages, said Patrick Pellou, a columnist at the magazine.