Tim Barela (born 1954)[1] is an American gay cartoonist who is best known for his creation of the comic strip Leonard & Larry.
[4] Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, California,[1] Barela began working as a cartoonist in 1976, producing an untitled comic strip for Cycle News.
This led to strips such as "Just Puttin" for Biker magazine (1977-1978), "Short Strokes" for Cycle World (1977-1979), "Hard Tale" for Choppers (1978-1979), "The Adventures of Rickie Racer," "The Adventures of Eric Enchilada," and "The Puttin Gourmet...America's Favorite Low-Life Epicurean" for Biker Lifestyle,[1] and FTW News (1979).
[1] Editor Robert Triptow encouraged Barela to develop the Leonard & Larry strip into longer multi-page stories, which was first featured in Gay Comix #5.
[5] The Leonard & Larry collection Kurt Cobain & Mozart Are Both Dead was a nominee for the Lambda Literary Award in the Humor category.