John P. D'Agostino Sr., generally credited as Jon D'Agostino (June 13, 1929November 28, 2010) was an Italian-American

comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist best known for his

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

for the lead story in the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

landmark ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' No. 1 (March 1963), as well as other seminal Marvel comics. D'Agostino is not the French comics artist Tony D'Agostino, a.k.a. Tony Dagos, whose early work was signed "D'Agostino". He is also not the concurrent early-Marvel letterer John Duffy a.k.a. John Duffi.

Biography

Early career

Jon D'Agostino was born in

Cervinara Cervinara is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. History According to the legend, the name "Cervinara" comes from an altar dedicated by the Romans to Ceres, goddess of the harvest. The name appears for the first ...

, Italy, the son of Pasquale and Annunziata Pitanello D'Agostino."Archie Artist Jon D'Agostino Passes Away at 81"

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

, November 30, 2010, via ''

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

''
WebCitation archive
He emigrated to the United States with his family during childhood, and later attended either the Industrial School of Art in Los Angeles, California, or New York City's

School of Industrial Art The High School of Art and Design is a career and technical education high school in Manhattan, New York City, New York State, United States. Founded in 1936 as the School of Industrial Art, the school moved to 1075 Second Avenue in 1960 and more ...

and the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...

.Jon D'Agostino
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Archived
October 18, 2011. (Sources vary.) His siblings were brothers Peter, Ted, Charles and William, the latter two of whom predeceased him, and sisters Lucielle and Gina. D'Agostino's earliest known work in the comics medium was as head

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

for

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, the 1940s forerunner of

. In that capacity, in 1949, he mentored new-hire

Stan Goldberg Stan Goldberg (May 5, 1932 – August 31, 2014) was an American comic book artist, best known for his work with Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics colorist who in the 1960s helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic F ...

, a 16-year-old colorist who would later become one of

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.e man who was in charge of the coloring department is still a dear friend of mine, Jon D'Agostino."Adelaide Comics and Books: Stan Goldberg interview (2005)
Writer and artist credits were not routinely given during this period fans and historians refer to as the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

, making full bibliographies difficult for many of the medium's pioneering creators. D'Agostino's first confirmed comics credit is

penciling A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

and

inking Inking may refer to: *Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares * Inking (comic book production) *Pen computing Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...

the seven-page

romance comic Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

story "Glamor Killed My Love" (as John D'Agostino) in ''Romantic Hearts'' No. 6 (Feb. 1952), from publisher Story Comics. Other early credits, all using the first name "Jon", include horror stories in Master Publications' ''Dark Mysteries'' No. 14 (Oct. 1953), and inking the cover and the lead

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' is an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in syndication from February to November 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. ...

story in the science-fiction anthology series ''Space Adventures'' No. 18 (Sept. 1955), the first of his countless works for

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

Later career

Through the 1950s and into the 1960s, D'Agostino fully drew or simply inked across a variety of titles for Charlton, including

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

(''Sweethearts'');

war comics War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II. History American war comics Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began incl ...

(''Attack'', ''

Fightin' Army ''Fightin' Army'' was a bimonthly war comic published by Charlton Comics from 1956–1984 (though it was primarily a reprint title from 1978 to the end of its run). Telling fictional stories of the United States Army, it was a sister title of the ...

'');

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

comics and other types of children's comics (''Pudgy Pig'', ''

Timmy the Timid Ghost Timmy the Timid Ghost is a fictional comic book ghost, whose adventures were published by Charlton Comics. Publication history Timmy the Timid Ghost first appeared as a minor character in an Atomic Mouse story, "3-D Crime Wave" by Al Fago, in ''A ...

'', ''Hunk''); and teen humor comics (''Freddy'', and the

TV-series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

licensed comic ''

My Little Margie ''My Little Margie'' is an American television situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California, at Hal Ro ...

''). He occasionally inked penciler

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...

under the joint pseudonym Matt Bakerino. As Johnny Dee, he lettered the lead story in the

' landmark ''

'' No. 1 (March 1963).''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #1
at the Grand Comics Database In the mid-1960s and continuing through the 1970s, D'Agostino began contributing to

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

in addition to Charlton, both as an artist and as a

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

. In the 1980s he was inking primarily for Archie and for Marvel, including on the latter's '' G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero'', '' Marvel Two-In-One'', and, for Marvel's

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

children's imprint, ''

Planet Terry ''Planet Terry'' was an American science fiction comic book aimed at young children. Published by Star Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, the title lasted 12 issues, from April 1985 to March 1986. The title was authored by Lennie Herman, the wri ...

'', '' Heathcliff'', and '' Royal Roy''. By 1990, D'Agostino was exclusively inking for Archie, on teen-humor stories for such titles as ''Archie's Pals 'N' Gals'', ''Jughead's Time Police'', ''Hot Dog'', ''Explorers of the Unknown'' (a light adventure comic starring the Archie gang), ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional character, fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo ...

'', and the video game licensed comic ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

''. D'Agostino's last known published credit was inking the cover of ''

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...

'' No. 173 (June 2008),''Betty'' #173
at the Grand Comics Database although Archie Comics said in a statement announcing his death that his last interior work would appear in ''Jughead Double Digest'' No. 166, as part of the four-part "Cyrano Jones" story, "and several of his covers will be seen through 2011."

Personal life

He married his first wife, Jean D'Onofrio D'Agostino, in 1955. They remained married until her death in 1992, and had three sons: John Jr., Peter, and Pat. Following the 1992 death of his first wife, he married Elvira "Vivi" Testa D'Agostino in 1995. The two lived in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City. D'Agostino died November 28, 2010, of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...

Ansonia, Connecticut Ansonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Located on the Naugatuck River, it is immediately north of Derby, and about northwest of New Haven. The population was 18,918 at the time of the 2020 census. The ZIP code for ...

References

External links

John P. Dagostino
icat the United States

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the Social Security Administration, United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Mas ...

via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
Jon D'Agostino
an
Johnny Dee
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics CreatorsThe Big Comic Book Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dagostino, Jon 1929 births 2010 deaths American comics artists Deaths from bone cancer Deaths from cancer in Connecticut Golden Age comics creators Silver Age comics creators Marvel Comics people Archie Comics Charlton Comics People from Avellino Italian emigrants to the United States