Issue 225 – Legends

This year we lost two greats — Rex and The Barracks. We wanted to take a beat to honor them as well as Mikal Bales, the man behind Zeus Studios—all 3 legends of Leather.

Rex’s illustrations took us into the minds and worlds of the depraved, shaping gay leather subculture indelibly. We’ve chosen some of our favorite images plus Rex’s own words to honor his legacy. For 31+ years the Barracks was the most well-known and arguably best leather bar in Palm Springs, if not Southern California. Writer Rob Hill and photographer Michael McFadden chronicle that very last Sunday Beer Blast before the doors closed. And in the 1975, frustrated with the vanilla porn of the day, Mikal Bales created Zeus Studios to make the kind of fetish and bondage porn he himself loved which went on to influence so many others. We’ve still got today’s hot guys doing hot shit to each other in pictures and on paper –– another scorcher from Vince Andrews (“Flying High, Landing Hard!), art by Lancelot Runge and Mosirisart and photography from lens behind BoundLeatherZine. But it’s good to remind ourselves and remember what came before…what made us who we are now.