In Memoriam... John P. “Jon” D’Agostino Sr. Comics Creator   - -   - Above Photo:  John D'Agostino received Lettering Credit as 'Johnny Dee' for the 14 page story inside the Amazing Spider-Man #1 from 1963. - At the top Left: John received a warm welcome at the 2009 New York Comic Con (NYCC).  Unbelievable that it was his 1st comic con that he attended in person...  - At the 2nd from the top Left: There were several covers that John worked on, but just a few covers that had John with signed credits. He worked a long time at Archie Comics. This Cheryl Blossom #15 Cover was from September 1998. - At the bottom Left: Besides working at Marvel Comics, and Archie Comics as see in the previous pics, John also worked at Gold Key Comics.  This issue of Mystery Comics Digest / Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery from October of 1975 had his lettering credits in the 13 page main story. - At the bottom right of this blog post are a couple of comics that John also worked on. He spent several years at Charlton Comics as well, plus helped Marvel Comics launch their 'Star Comics' line.

Today's Feature: Blog #3292

I heard earlier yesterday from Joe Pepitone (a.k.a. JoepeP), that a long time friend of his from their Archie Comics era together had passed away. 

He had such good things to say about this man, that I asked him if he could put them down on paper so that I could include them in this 'Memoriam' blog post for John.  Thanks, JoepeP, for taking the time to do so and forwarding them to me for inclusion in this memorial blog post.

"Jon D'Agostino… A Friend, A Co-Worker, A Master in his Art. 

I meet Jon when I first started working as art director at Archie Comics in 1989. He always greeted you with a hello and a smile, and had a wonderful sense of humor. 

And with the humor was stories of comic book past that you could never read about in any book or graphic novel.

What I enjoyed the most was he was always proud of his work, I always felt his inking was so sharp and crisp you could cut your fingers on it, a true artist.

I learned so much from him he was “DaBEST”!"

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In addition to the above, here is the link to the obit in the Valley Independent Sentinel paper from yesterday evening. Again, courtesy of JoepeP.

I am just going to copy a few lines here from the obit that are comic book history related on John: 

John P. “Jon” D’Agostino Sr. - posted: Nov 29, 2010 5:38 pm
John P. “Jon” D’Agostino Sr., 81, of Ansonia, entered into rest on November 29, 2010, in the comfort of his home. He is the husband of Elvira “Vivi” Testa D’Agostino.
Mr. D’Agostino was born in Cervinara, Italy on June 13, 1929, son of the late Pasquale and Annunziata Pitanello D’Agostino. He was an American comic book artist best known for his Archie Comics work. He attended the Industrial School of Art in New York City. His first job was as the Head Colorist for NYC’s “Timely Comic’s”, the 1940’s forerunner of “Marvel Comics”. His mentor early on was the well-known Stan Lee. For the next 62 years, he did work for many different comic book publishers. His credits include, “My Little Margie”, “The Amazing Spider Man”, “The Incredible Hulk”, “G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “Sabrina The Teenage Witch”, and “Sonic The Hedgehog”.

Additionally, as this is be blogged tonight, and may reach those that knew John, here are the details for the service that is being held this upcoming Thursday:

Friends and relatives are invited to attend his funeral on Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 at 8:15am from the SPINELLI-RICCIUTI/BEDNAR-OSIECKI FUNERAL HOME, 62 Beaver Street in Ansonia, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:00 am at the Holy Rosary Church in Ansonia. Burial will follow in Riverside Cemetery in Shelton. Visiting hours will be held on Wednesday from 4-8 pm. To send an online condolence, please visit http://www.spinellifuneralhome.com.

My condolences to John's family and friends.  To often those who have labored long in the comics industry have been unsung in what the decades of reading pleasure they have provided for this medium. I only wanted to bring this man's passing to those that were interested in his many years of fruitful work in the industry.

Which leads me to provide these links to the known credits of John D'Agostino in comics under these names:  'John D'Agostino', 'Johnny Dee', 'Jon D'Agostino'.  I'm sure there are more that are not listed, but you can see the decades of work that this man has left us...

I'm including a couple more covers at the bottom right of this post, as I for one enjoyed the 'Star Comics' line of comics for younger readers, that were published by Marvel Comics. I gave those to my kids when they were first starting to read. John had a hand in quite a few of them, including Ewoks!

Plus his works at Charlton Comics shouldn't be overlooked.  The cover to Li'l Genius shown below is just one sample of his pencils and inks.

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Again, my personal thanks to Joe Pepitone for writing just a little of his knowledge of John.  It is appreciated.

PLUS My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 3,290 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

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Note: Our online comic book shop carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items at the link seen below.  

http://www.comicbookscircus.com/

 

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