One thing I noticed about growing up in Canada was that when you went to a house party, everyone was a comedian. There were a lot of guys like Wayne (from "Wayne's World"). Mike Myers took that character from a Canadian house party, I'm sure. I couldn't deliver a punchline as well as a lot of people, so I found that drawing funny things got a better reaction from people.

Q: Who were your heroes as a young doodler/cartoonist? Why?

DW: There are so many people who influenced me. I drew inspiration from everything from the superhero comics to "Beetle Bailey," "B.C.," "Crock," and "For Better or For Worse," then later "The Far Side," "Bloom County," "Herman" and "Shoe." I was also very influenced by the old comics like "Mutt and Jeff," "Krazy Kat," and "Popeye." I think that style of comic is very much reflected in what I do now.

Then, of course, I loved the editorial cartoons, mainly for the drawing. Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters, Pat Oliphant, Don Wright...I also enjoyed cartoons on TV, like "The Flintstones," and Bugs Bunny.

Q: How difficult is it to create a daily panel without any recurring characters?

DW: In some ways, it's a lot easier to not have recurring characters. One day, you can have a comic about cavemen, the next day about a chicken. Then again, you're starting from nothing -- a blank piece of paper, and that can be more difficult. I teach illustration at an art college and I find that many students struggle when you give them an open-ended assignment with a lot of freedom. They sit there handcuffed. If I change it and say, "Do an illustration about a caveman," they instantly stop spinning their wheels and the ideas start flowing.

Someday, I would like to do a strip with recurring characters. I imagine it might start writing itself. I look at sitcoms with strong characters and you can identify with them -- you can almost predict what might happen in every episode, based on those characters and how they might react to a given situation.

Q: With a different panel every day, was it challenging at first to create an identity for the strip?

DW: Not really. I'm more of a gag cartoonist. A lot of the single-panel comics are simply gag cartoons. I mainly concentrated on the style and look of the comic. I wanted to keep it loose and easy to look at. I don't draw with a lot of detail. Some comic pages reduce your art to the size of a postage stamp, so I find the old "less is more" principle applies here.

Q: What do you feel are its strengths?

DW: I think the loose, simple drawings with bold black tones are easy on the eye. I try to keep the humor consistent, although after nearly 10 years, it's hard not to repeat yourself. I do try to keep it fresh.

Q: Take us through your creative process. How do you get your ideas? Do you find yourself watching people a lot in public?

DW: I draw from everything...pop culture, my friends, newspaper articles and editorials...You always have to have your antennae up. You never really take a day off because ideas are coming at you all the time. When I need ideas, I sit down with a giant cup of coffee (Tim Horton's -- big in Canada) and after about a half-hour things start to happen. I may read newspapers or zoom around on the Internet to get some perspectives or to find out some new trends, or I may just sit there and hope for the best.

Q: Do you keep a notebook of ideas to draw from, to get ahead of your deadlines? Or do you scramble at the last minute?

DW: I do keep a sketchbook of ideas. Sometimes I look back at old ideas and then I can't recall if I've used something similar before or not... this is usually as it's past deadline and I'm scrambling for one more idea. It's difficult to be funny on demand. I used to really be on top of my deadlines...I would send in six weeks of comics at a time. Now I seem to always be behind.