Review by Win Wiacek

Gay themes and scenes in entertainment are simply No Big Deal anymore. That wasn’t always the case, as inclusion in all drama, comedy, adventure and other genres started as late as the 1970s and matured in the 1980s, among others due to the efforts of cartoonists like Tim Barela. That’s all the more surprising as Los Angeles native Barela became a fundamentalist Christian in high school. He had dreams of becoming a cartoonist and loved motorbikes, but was also a gay kid struggling to come to terms with what was still judged illegal, wilful deviancy and appalling sin.

In 1976, Barela began a comic strip about working in a bike shop for Cycle News, from which some characters found their way into later strips. When he unsuccessfully pitched a domestic strip to LGBT news periodical The Advocate among the cast were literal and metaphorical straight man Rodger and openly gay Leonard Goldman who had a “roommate” named Larry Evans. When then pitching the strip to Gay Comix editor Robert Triptow the advice was to ditch the restrictive newspaper strip format in favour of longer complete episodes, and highlight Leonard and Larry. It became a regular feature, showed up in prestigious benefit comic Strip AIDs U.S.A. before triumphantly moving into The Advocate in 1988, and from 1990, its rival Frontiers. The lads even moved into live drama in 1994 as part of stage show Out of the Inkwell.

Four collections followed, starting with Domesticity Isn’t Pretty. They’re long out of print, increasingly difficult to come by, and in the digital era Leonard and Larry’s popularity has only grown. Welcome, then, this complete collection.

As well as featuring a multi-generational cast, Leonard & Larry is a strip that progresses in real time, with characters all ageing and developing accordingly. The first compilation’s closer ‘Recent Stories from Frontiers Magazine’ particularly highlights how the world goes on without regard for personal feelings as one of Larry’s kids comes out and the other makes them grandparents.

The strips are not and never have been about sex, except as a constant generator of hilarious jokes and outrageously embarrassing situations. Leonard & Larry is a traditionally domestic marital sitcom soap opera with Dick Van Dyke & Mary Tyler Moore – replaced by a hulking bearded “bear” with biker, cowboy and leather fetishes and a stylishly moustachioed, no-nonsense fashion photographer. It’s a love story about growing old together, but not gracefully or with any dignity.

With this digitally restored compilation you can again take a printed Walk on the Mild Side. Or digitally, if that’s your preference. Bonus features include Barela’s ‘Mountain Man’ strip, introductions from Barela and Andy Mangels, and new one-pager adding to the ending twenty years later