Veteran comic book and strip artist John Celardo died Friday at a nursing facility near his home on Staten Island, New York. He was 93.
According to this obituary in his hometown newspaper, Celardo attended the New York Industrial Arts School, Federal Arts School and New York School of Visual Arts. They note he began working as an artist in the late thirties, drawing animals at the Staten Island Zoo.
I can pick up the story after that: His first work in comics was done in or around 1939 for the Eisner-Iger Studio and he quickly segued to drawing comic books for Fiction House, Quality Comics and other companies. For Fiction House, he often drew Kaanga, which was a Tarzan-like character. It is said that it primed Celardo's desire for a crack at drawing the real Tarzan some day. He would get his chance but before he did, he served in World War II and drew a lot more comics, including a long stint for Better Publications.
He got his shot at the Tarzan newspaper strip in 1954, taking it over from his friend and studio-mate Bob Lubbers when Lubbers accepted an offer to go work for Al Capp. Celardo drew (and eventually wrote) Tarzan until 1967 when he was replaced by Russ Manning. With nary a week off, Celardo moved over and began drawing the Tales of the Green Beret newspaper strip when its first artist, Joe Kubert, gave it up.
When that strip ended in 1969, Celardo began drawing for DC Comics and Western Publishing. For the latter, his work was featured throughout the seventies in the Gold Key "ghost" comics like Grimm's Ghost Stories and Twilight Zone. DC used him on a wide array of books, often as an inker. Celardo was a very good artist and the kind of inker who tended to dominate a page. Often but not always, he was assigned to ink pencil work by other artists who, some editor felt, needed a lot of "fixing."
In 1981, Celardo left comic books, returning to the strip world. He took over the Buz Sawyer newspaper strip and became the last in a line of artists to continue Roy Crane's creation. As far as I know, he retired after the strip ended in 1989.
I never met Mr. Celardo but I admired his work. From all reports, he was a solid professional and it's obvious to anyone who saw his work that he really knew how to draw and he maintained a high standard throughout his career.