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This text was derived from Matt & Andrej Koymasky's website.
Gerard P. Donelan was born in Boston in 1949, but grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of advertising artist Paul Donelan. He studied art at Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute but did not finish a degree, and went to work in retail. In 1977, disappointed that the pioneering gay comic strip Miss Thing had ended its run in The Advocate, Donelan submitted a cartoon to the publication, which turned into a long-running series of his own. "It's a Gay Life" gently lampooned gay culture of the time, focusing primarily on young and middle-aged gay men. He continued to work in retailing while producing the series, which also yielded two paperback reprints: Drawing on the Gay Experience (1987) and Donelan's Back (1988). His work has appeared in Frontiers magazine, in issues of Gay Comix (including one cover), and in the gay comics anthology Meatmen.
Donelan first appeared in The Advocate in the early 1978 in response to Anita Bryant's attempt to destroy the popularity of orange juice. His "It's a Gay Life" page became a popular feature for 15 years as The Advocate rose to national prominence, and helped popularize the positive connotation of "fairy" with his images of, as he called them, "asexual, happy little beings that do good deeds," shown often with a cute innocently come-hither smile (and physique) and a gay glint in their wings. (We're not so sure about the asexual part, but the rest is certainly true.)
Broadening his scope, Donelan moved into the "adult" field, published two collections, has been translated into languages as diverse as Dutch and Korean, and is now featured in the biweekly national newsmagazine Frontiers. Donelan still lives and works in Plymouth , MA. with his husband Christopher and their weird cat Spooky.
Donelan is the most popular and widely reprinted of the cartoonists who work for the gay audience. And yet it is one of the most difficult to find on-line. If you have other of Donelan's cartoons, please send them to us to complete this album...
These are all the images that have been found so far. If you have anything not listed here, E-mail it to me!
Images here are thumbnails for now. Right click to open the full image.
