Wes is the cartoonist behind the Prophet of Zoom comic strip on the back page of Zoomer Magazine and he's the president of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists representing some of the finest editorial cartoonists from across the country. Aaron met Wes when the cartoonist moderated a panel discussion featuring the Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man creative team of Chip Zdarsky and Adam Kubert at the Royal Ontario Museum. Since then, he's been wanting to get Wes in the NSN studios and now he finally has his chance.

The two begin by paying tribute to Wes's groovy grandma who exposed him to the underground comix of Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez and Kim Deitch at a very young age long before he ever knew about superhero comics. Meanwhile his parents took him to the circus and his favourite teacher Mr. Case fostered an advanced talent for drawing. From there, Aaron and Wes talk about his love of British comics from Beano and Dandy to 2000 AD and that time Paul McCartney dropped by Wes's cousin's place to ring in the new year. As a political head, Wes talks about his time working on a kibbutz in Israel, his four years in Cuba and how political cartooning pushes the envelope internationally way further than your ever allowed to in English Canada where you're much more beholden to the whims of the readership.

Speaking of Cuba, Wes talks about that time he almost died in a car accident there and when his phones were bugged because everyone thought he was an American spy. Wes also breaks down the fundamentals of caricature for Aaron, the dangers of censorship -- including his thoughts on the Charlie Hebdo Massacre and when he learned to dodge bullets – and the disrespect of creative industries, especially cartooning with the death of newspapers.

This episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula and Sequential Magazine.

Wes' website

Wes on Twitter

Prophet of Zoom

Idea City 2015 Charlie Hebdo discussion

Wes' books with Neil Crone and David Roth on Goodreads

Association of Canadian Cartoonists