SHIFT Presents Mr Custa Review - Volumes One & Two Deliver Colourful Chaos
Sometimes you just want a comic that entertains with some good old-fashioned silly fun. The kind of silly fun that you'd find in Mr Custa, a sci-fi comedy series created and written by Philipa Whitmore. The series appeared in the online Aces Weekly, illustrated by Mychailo Kazybrid, aided and abetted by Bambos Georgiou. Now part of the Swift Presents line, these two collected editions allow the character to shine in the spotlight.
Mr Custa follows the misadventures of the eponymous hero. He's a brilliant, but irrational, rock star from the Planet Tharnog. Along with his companions, Brok, Sia and Fly, he has to save the entire multiverse from his archnemesis, Evilone. Evilone being pronounced as Evil-O-Knee - it makes little sense, and I love it. Each volume features five wacky stories chock full of absolute madness and chaos. Now, let's get into why you'll enjoy this.
The art is pencilled by Mychailo Kazybrid. Bambos Georgiou then inks, colours and letters. There's a lovely mix of expressive cartooning and detailed work, whilst still keeping an overall style. Expressions are used to great effect at times to match the moment and add some real charm to the panels. It's confident work that understands exactly what kind of story it's telling.
The colouring is vibrant on every page. It's helped a bit, with the main cast being colourful characters, be it their clothes, skin, or hair colour. The backgrounds and vehicles are equally as bright - who knew a pink and yellow coloured spaceship could look so good! It's a perfect combo of art style and colouring, as darker tones simply would not work.
As for the stories, this is a series that thrives on irreverence, energy, and a distinctly British sense of comic‑book mischief. Across Volumes One and Two, readers are treated to a chaotic, self‑aware romp. It's full of bold ideas, sharp humour, and absolutely no interest in playing safe. Philipa Whitmore has a canny ability to turn ridiculousness into something that either weirdly makes sense or knows it doesn't need to, so plays on that. There are times it's ridiculous, and that's part of what makes it enjoyable. It matches my humour a fair bit.
With five stories per volume, there's plenty of variety storywise. There wasn't a story I didn't enjoy, but there were definitely stories that I absolutely loved. They're fun. Good old-school comic humour at times that reminds me of some older comics, whilst standing proudly on its own. They're the sort of books you finish with a smile because they never pretend to be anything other than fun.
If you want to grab yourself a copy, head over to the Shift online store. Volume One is available here. Volume Two, here. The fun won't stop here, either. There are enough stories for many more volumes, which I hope become part of the Shift Presents line. There are times I like something a little different. A little colourful, fun chaos that can provide a few minutes of entertainment per story that I can pick up between the busy moments of my life. It's why I like comics in this format.
Rating: 4/5.
