Catch up with Team Custa in the intergalactic tale of Bad Sports! ACES WEEKLY Vol 73

It's a new take on the world of ET Sport when Mr Custa faces the baseballs that hit back!

Just a kid off the Lane.

My introduction to the world of comics started many years ago when I was around 7 years old. Whilst I'd already enjoyed most weekly UK humour comics such as The Dandy, The Beano, Topper, etc, my interest was turning towards the new american imports such as Amazing Fantasy and Fantastic Four. But it was equally the wonderful artwork coming from Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko that encouraged me to want to take the often strange path of the comic book artist. Having told my Dad that that one day I'd grow up to become a cartoonist, his response was simply, "No, one day you'll get a proper job!". Added to this, I was born on the Lane. To explain, Lumb Lane in the northern city of Bradford was well know for been the main red light district for many years. It wasn't easy for kids to chase after either dreams or at least strange forms of employment, so where was one to begin? A perfect Saturday afternoon would be to walk into town, purchse a fair number of Marvel/DC comics from Mr Kirshaw at Dell's Comic and Book Stall, and move on to Charlie's Milkbar for a banana milkshake. We knew how to live in those days. It was all thanks to Mr Kirshaw for introducing this kid to all the latest titles from the US, Spider-Man, Avengers, X-Men, just to name a few. Now age 70, I've been working as a professional cartoonist for almost 50 years, but I still haven't forgotten growing up on the Lane and more important, Mr Kirshaw and those early comics.