John Celardo is an American artist, writer and editor, born on Staten Island, New York. He got his art studies at the Arts Students League and the New York School of Industrial Arts. He started his professional career contributing sports cartoons to Street and Smith publications in 1937. He soon turned to comics, and went to the Eisner-Iger studios.
Goldbrick Gribble
There, he did 'Dollman', 'Wonder Boy', 'Uncle Sam', 'Paul Bunyan', 'Espionage', 'Hercules', 'Old Witch' and 'Zero Comics', sometimes working under the pseudonym John C. Lardo. From 1940 he also worked for Fiction House, where he drew 'Hawk', 'Red Comet', 'Powerman', 'Captain West' and 'Kaanga'. After the War, he continued his work at Fiction House, illustrating 'Tiger Man', 'Suicide Smith' and others.
Tarzan daily (1955)
In the 1950s Celardo started free-lancing, before he succeeded Bob Lubbers on the daily 'Tarzan' comic. In the 1960s he also took on the writing of the 'Tarzan' strip and introduced many new characters from outside and inside the jungle, such as Red Chinese spies. In the late 1960s, he took over 'The Green Berets' from Joe Kubert and 'Davy Jones' from Sam Leff and Alden McWilliams. In the 1970s he returned to free-lancing and did such titles as 'Believe It or Not' for Western and several titles for National. Between 1973 and the mid-1990s he was a comic editor with King Features Syndicate, and didn't return to the drawing board until the 1980s, when he drew the 'Buz Sawyer' newspaper strip (1983-1989).
Kaänga (Jungle Comics #100, April 1948)