Donelan (cartoonist)
| Donelan | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Drawing on the Gay Experience by Gerard P. Donelan | |
| Born | Gerard P. Donelan 1949 (age 75–76) Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Donelan |
Notable works | "It's a Gay Life"
"Drawing on the Gay Experience" "Donelan's Back" |
| Spouse(s) | Christopher McKenna (m. 2015) |
Gerard P. Donelan (born 1949),[1] known mononymously as Donelan (dɔnəlɛn),[2] is a gay cartoonist. Part of the first wave of LGBT cartoonists,[3] he drew It's a Gay Life, a regular gag cartoon feature in The Advocate, for 15 years.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]Donelan was born in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, but grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of advertising artist Paul Donelan.[5] He graduated from Plymouth Carver Regional High School in 1967.[5] He studied art at Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute but did not finish the degree and went to work in retail.
Career
[edit]In 1977, disappointed that Joe Johnson's pioneering gay comic strips Miss Thing and Big Dick had ended their run in The Advocate, Donelan submitted 29 cartoons to the publication, which turned into a long-running series of his own. It's a Gay Life gently lampooned the Castro clone culture of the time, focusing primarily on young and middle-aged gay men's daily lives.[6] He continued to work in retail while producing the series, which also yielded two paperback reprints: Drawing on the Gay Experience (1987) and Donelan's Back (1988).[1]
For eight years, Donelan also created sexually explicit comics in color for Advocate Men, an erotica sister publication of The Advocate.[7] His work has appeared in Drummer,[8] Frontiers, Gunner, Gay Comix,[9] and Meatmen.[4]
Donelan's art was produced in seven countries and five languages.[5][10] His work has appeared on t-shirts, rubber stamps, calendars, greeting cards, and in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.[7][4]
Donelan created cartoons, pamphlets, and posters to educate the gay community about the importance of safe sex practices and the threat of AIDS.[5] He did this work for the NAMES Project.
In May 2015, he was a featured panelist at the first Queers & Comics conference, as one of the "Pioneers of Queer Men's Comics".[7] The Leather Archives & Museum holds a selection of his work.[11][citation needed]
Personal life
[edit]Donelan met and began dating Christopher McKenna in May 1979. They married in 2013, having waited until their marriage would be federally recognized in the US.[5] After spending most of their lives together living in San Francisco, the couple eventually moved back to Donelan's hometown of Plymouth, Massachusetts after his mother died in 2004.[5]
Contributions
[edit]- "Donelan" from Strip AIDS U.S.A.
- "The Quilt" from Strip AIDS U.S.A.
- Cover of Gay Comix #7 (colored by Robert Triptow)
- "Night Moves" from Gay Comix #7
- "The Discussion Group" from Gay Comix #7
- "A Donelan Look at Women" from Gay Comix #10
- "A Donelan Look at Men" from Gay Comix #10
- "Blip..." from Gay Comix #25
- Untitled from No Straight Lines
- Untitled from Meatmen #1
- "Interrupted Transmission" from Meatmen #2
- Back cover of Meatmen #2
- It's a Gay Life from The Advocate (1977-1992)[4][10]
See also
[edit]- LGBTQ themes in comics
- List of graphic art works with LGBTQ characters
- List of comics creators
- List of American comics creators
References
[edit]- ^ a b Donelan, Gerard P. (1987). "About the Cartoonist". Donelan: drawing on the gay experience: cartoons from The Advocate. Los Angeles: Liberation Publications. ISBN 978-0-917076-07-7.
- ^ "How to Pronounce Donelan - PronounceNames.com - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- ^ Kirby, Robert (18 May 2015). "Queers & Comics: The LGBTQ Cartoonists and Comics Conference". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ a b c d Theophano, Theresa (2002). "Comic Strips and Cartoons" (PDF). glbtq. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- ^ a b c d e f Clark, Emily (2019-06-29). "A mission of love". Wicked Local. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- ^ Evil, Sina (14 November 2011). "Gay Ghetto Comics 1: Constructing a Dominant Gay Habitus". The Hooded Utilitarian. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ a b c CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies (2016-09-08), Queers & Comics: Pioneers of Queer Men's Comics, archived from the original on 2021-12-20, retrieved 2017-01-22
- ^ "Drummer Magazine No 158 October 1992". Jack Fritscher. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ "Gay Comix (Bob Ross, 1985 series) #7". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- ^ a b "Read online Gay Comix (Gay Comics) comic - Issue #25". ZipComic.com. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
- ^ "Jerry Leppek Collection". Leather Archives & Museum. (PERS-0019-05-0229). Retrieved 2025-03-22.