Ben Wicks, perhaps Canada's most prolific cartoonist, was born at London, England. Creator of the syndicated cartoon strip "The Outcasts," Wicks was a self-taught illustrator who quit school at age 14 to work as a boot maker, shipping clerk and barrow salesman. At the height of his career, Wicks’ strips had been picked up by more than 200 newspapers in North America and Europe. Said Wicks: "Actually I am rotten at drawing."