Tim Barela Leonard and Larry comic strips
Scope and Contents
The collection comprises original ink comic strips and cover art from Leonard & Larry, 1983-2003, a gay comic strip created and written by Tim Barela. Included are the comic strips that were published in Gay Comix, Gay Ink, Advocate, and Frontiers; as well as cover art from Barela's four book collections of Leonard & Larry comics.
Dates
- Creation: 1983 - 2003
Creator
- Barela, Tim (Creator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Historical Note
Tim Barela is a Los Angeles cartoonist and creator of the gay comic strip Leonard & Larry. He was born in 1954 in Temecula, California. He began work as a cartoonist in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s he created the comic strip Leonard & Larry, which focused on the life of a middle-aged gay couple living in West Hollywood. Leonard & Larry first appeared in Gay Comix in 1984. The strip then moved to the Advocate magazine in 1988 where it ran once a month for two years. In 1990 the comic moved to Frontiers magazine where it ran every other week for 12 years. The comic has since been published by Palliard Press in four volumes: Domesticity Isn't Pretty (1993), Kurt Cobain and Mozart Are Both Dead (1996), Excerpts From the Ring Cycle in Royal Albert Hall (2000), and How Real Men Do It (2003).
The strip focuses on the domestic life of Leonard and Larry and their increasingly diverse group of friends. Leonard is a fashion photographer and Larry owns a leather shop in West Hollywood. The characters age in real time as the strip progresses and follows the couple as they deal with everyday domestic problems, such as parenting; but it also touched on issues that came up in the national media, such as gay celebrities outing themselves.
Extent
6.25 Linear Feet (5 flat archive boxes.)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Original ink comic strips and cover art from Leonard & Larry, 1983-2003, a gay comic strip created and written by Tim Barela. Leonard & Larry debuted in the pages of Gay Comix in 1984, and was regularly featured in the Advocate (1988-1990) and Frontiers (1990-2002) magazines.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Acquisition
Gift of Timothy J. Barela, July 12, 2011.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Sarah Wilson, April 2014.
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Tim Barela Leonard and Larry Comic Strips, 1983-2003
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Loni Shibuyama
- Date
- (c) 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Repository Details
Part of the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, University of Southern California Repository
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles California 90007 United States
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu