JOHN CELARDO (JOHN C. LARDO) born 1918

American cartoonist, writer, and editor, originally from Staten Island, New York, trained at the New York Art Students League and the New York School of Industrial Arts.  Celardo began his career in 1937 as a sports cartoonist and spot illustrator for Street and Smith publications.  Next he entered the comic book field as an employee of Will Eisner and Jerry Iger before joining Quality Comics.  At Quality he contributed to Dollman, Wonder Boy, Uncle Sam, Paul Bunyan, Espionage, Hercules, Old Witch, and Zero, sometimes using the signature John C. Lardo.
    
In 1940 Celardo switched to Fiction House where he worked on the comics Hawk, Red Comet, Powerman, Captain West, and Kaanga until his entry into military service during World War II.  In 1946 he returned to Fiction House for another three years, adding Tiger Man, Suicide Smith, and other comics to his list of credits.  He then joined the Ziff-Davis magazine conglomerate for a brief period of time in 1950, and did some free-lance work before taking Bob Lubbers' place on the Tarzan comic strip at United Feature Syndicate around 1953.  In 1967 Celardo left to work for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, drawing The Green Berets until its termination in 1969.  He then returned to United Feature where he worked on Davy Jones.  In the meantime, he produced comic books for the Western and National firms, and in 1973 became comics editor at King Features.  In the 1980s he returned to the drawing board, illustrating Buz Sawyer.

Sources include:
Horn, World Encyclopedia of Comics
Who's Who of American Comic Books, “John C. Lardo,” Lambiek.net Web page: http://lambiek.net/artists/c/celardo_john.htm

Information courtesy of Sara Willett Duke, Curator, Library of Congress