Emigrating to the U.S. with his family at age five, Gustavson (who modified his name when he entered comics) graduated from Quentin High School in New York City, and studied civil engineering at Manhattan's Cooper Union.
Gustavson began working in the studio of the quirkily named Harry "A" Chesler, a "packager" of comic books for publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium.
I stayed with Chesler for about two years and, during that time, worked with people like Jack Cole, Mort Meskin, Gill Fox, Fred Guardineer, Charlie Biro, and Bob Wood".
Gustavson, whose delicate, fine-line art resembles that of fellow Golden Age cartoonist Lou Fine, also worked on Blackhawk, Kid Eternity, Uncle Sam and other characters.
From 1942 to 1945, Gustavson did his World War II military service in the Air Tech Training Command, concurrently studying aerodynamics at Rutgers University.