# Tim Barela
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{{short description|American cartoonist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Cartoonist
| years_active =
| known_for = [Gay Comix](/source/Gay_Comix)
| notable_works = ''Leonard & Larry''
}}
'''Tim Barela''' (born 1954)[{{Cite book|title=Domesticity Isn't Pretty|last1=Barela|first1=Tim|last2=Mangels|first2=Andy|publisher=Palliard Press|year=1993|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|isbn=1-884568-00-9|pages=9–16}}] is an American gay cartoonist who is best known for his creation of the [comic strip](/source/comic_strip) ''Leonard & Larry''.[{{cite web|last=Suresha |first=Ron |author-link=Ron Suresha |title=Portrait of the Cartoonist as a Middle-Aged Bear: An Interview with Tim Barela |url=http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview1.htm |access-date=February 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070801020818/http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview1.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2007 }}] The ''Leonard & Larry'' strip first appeared in a 1984 issue of ''[Gay Comix](/source/Gay_Comix)'', then were later featured in ''[The Advocate](/source/The_Advocate_(LGBT_magazine))'' and ''[Frontiers](/source/Frontiers_(magazine))'' magazines.[{{cite web
| last = The Gay Comics List
| title = Leonard & Larry
| url=http://gaycomicslist.free.fr/pages/reviews.php?review=ll
| access-date = August 12, 2008 }}] The comic series has been collected in four volumes published by [Palliard Press](/source/Palliard_Press), and a single volume by Rattling Good Yarns.[{{Cite web|title=Leonard, Larry & Tim: gay comics legend Tim Barela|url=https://www.ebar.com/arts_&_culture/art//310153|access-date=November 8, 2021|website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.|language=en}}]
==Career==
Born in 1954 in [Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles%2C_California),[{{cite web|url=http://prismcomics.org/profile.php?id=6|title=Tim Barela creator profile|publisher=[Prism Comics](/source/Prism_Comics)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221004223/http://prismcomics.org/profile.php?id=6|archive-date=December 21, 2014|url-status=live|access-date=December 28, 2012}}]
The ''Leonard & Larry'' collection ''Kurt Cobain & Mozart Are Both Dead'' was a nominee for the [Lambda Literary Award](/source/Lambda_Literary_Award) in the Humor category.[{{cite web
| title = 9th Annual Lambda Literary Awards
| date=July 15, 1997
| url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/winners-finalists/07/14/lambda-literary-awards-1996/
| access-date = February 3, 2013 }}]
==Personal life==
Barela became a fundamentalist Christian in high school, but began attending a [Metropolitan Community Church](/source/Metropolitan_Community_Church) congregation in 1980.[{{cite web|url=http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview3.htm|title=Portrait of the Cartoonist as a Middle-Aged Bear: An Interview with Tim Barela|last=Suresha|first=Ron|author-link=Ron Suresha|website=Leonard & Larry website|page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041017153703/http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview3.htm|archive-date=October 17, 2004 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 4, 2013|quote=I have a very dear friend in Pennsylvania ... He's a biker - just like I used to be.}}] avid motorcyclist.[{{Cite web|url=http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview1.htm|title=.: Leonard and Larry :.|date=August 1, 2007|access-date=October 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070801020818/http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview1.htm|archive-date=August 1, 2007}}] In all of the strips Barela has published, at least one character has appeared in Western garb.[{{Cite web|url=http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview3.htm|title=.: Leonard and Larry :.|date=August 1, 2007|access-date=October 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070801020804/http://www.leonardandlarry.com/interview3.htm|archive-date=August 1, 2007}}] Additionally, he considers himself to be part of the [Bear](/source/Bear_(gay_culture)) community as well as a fan of it.
== ''Leonard and Larry'' ==
The ''Leonard and Larry'' comic strip was first published in ''Gay Comix'' #5 in 1984, and would go on to be featured in ''Gay Comix'' #7 in 1986, ''Gay Comix'' #10 in 1987, and ''Gay Comics'' #14 in 1991, as well as its own special issue of ''Gay Comix'' in 1992.[{{Citation|title=Gay Comix|date=July 25, 2019|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gay_Comix&oldid=907815710|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=October 31, 2019}}]{{Circular reference|date=October 2023}}
''Leonard and Larry'' has been praised for being comic strip which represents characters of different gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, and sexual preferences as a community.[{{Cite news|url=http://lp.hscl.ufl.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.66938078&site=eds-live|title=Bears Bust A Gut|last=Suresha|first=Ron|date=2000|work=Lambda Book Report|access-date=October 31, 2019|issue=3|issn=1048-9487}}] The characters in the comic strip also age over time, as illustrated through graying hair, expanding bald patches, and growing children,[{{Cite web|url=http://gaycomicslist.free.fr/pages/reviews.php?review=ll|title=[The Gay Comics List ~ Leonard & Larry]|website=gaycomicslist.free.fr|access-date=November 25, 2019}}]
''Leonard & Larry'' has been noted for Barela's attention to detail, particularly in his renderings of hair and beards. According to [Alison Bechdel](/source/Alison_Bechdel), "No one renders facial hair like Tim Barela, I always say. He does the most fabulous beards—he seems to draw each individual strand of hair."[{{Cite book |last=Barela |first=Tim |year=1996 |title=Kurt Cobain and Mozart are both dead: the second Leonard & Larry collection |others=Introduction: Robert Triptow |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Palliard Press |isbn=1-884568-04-1 |oclc=41948025}}]
* ''Excerpts from the Ring Cycle in Royal Albert Hall'' (2000), {{ISBN|1-884568-05-X}}[{{Cite book |last=Barela |first=Tim |year=2000|title=Excerpts from the ring cycle in Royal Albert Hall: the third Leonard & Larry Collection |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Palliard Press |edition=1st |isbn=1-884568-05-X |oclc=44697531}}]
* ''How Real Men Do It'' (2003), {{ISBN|1884568-06-8}}[{{Cite book |last=Barela |first=Tim |year=2003 |title=How Real Men Do It: The Fourth Leonard & Larry Collection |edition=First |others=Introduction: Ron Jackson Suresha |publisher=Palliard Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=1-884568-06-8 |oclc=54985205}}]
In 2021 Rattling Good Yarns released a compilation of all of the Leonard And Larry strips in both [hardback](/source/Hardcover) and softcover.
* ''The Complete Leonard & Larry Collection'' (2021), {{ISBN|1-955826-05-6}}