Mary Bierbaum

Infobox Comics creator
name = Mary Bierbaum


imagesize =
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birthname = Mary Gilmore
birthdate = 1955
location = Long Beach, California
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = American
area = Writer
alias =
notable works = "Legion of Super-Heroes"
"Legionnaires"
awards =
website =

Mary Bierbaum (born Mary Gilmore in 1955, in Long Beach, California) is a comic book writer known for her work on the "Legion of Super-Heroes" as part of the husband-and-wife writing team of Tom and Mary Bierbaum.

Biography

Interlac and Tom Bierbaum

Mary Bierbaum entered the world of professional comic book writing through Legion fandom. Gilmore became a serious "Legion" fan in the late 1970s,and eventually joined the Legion amateur press association Interlac.Tom and Mary Bierbaum interview in Cadigan, Glen and Shooter, Jim. "The Legion Companion" (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003)] Meeting fellow Interlac member Tom Bierbaum through the association, the two struck up a relationship. Gilmore lived in California, and as Bierbaum had designs on getting into the entertainment industry, he relocated out West, moved in with Mary, and eventually married her. [Broertjes, Harry. [http://members.aol.com/interlac/ "The History of Interlac (and Legion fandom, too!)," Interlac APA website.] Accessed Sept. 15, 2008.]

Early on in their relationship, the Bierbaums wrote stories together, their first published piece being a Halloween-themed short story for a local newspaper. (The story was actually a thinly veiled Legion story with the characters' names and situations changed.) Soon after, they submitted and published articles and stories in Interlac, which attracted the attention of veteran "Legion" artist Keith Giffen.

Keith Giffen

Giffen recognized the Bierbaum's devotion to the Legion, and contacted them, at first using them as a sounding board for his ideas about the superhero team. This soon led to a professional relationship, with Giffen plotting and drawing comics which the Bierbaums dialogued.

The Bierbaums and Giffen's first collaboration was on his run of "Lightning" stories in Deluxe Comics' "Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents"; which in 1989 led to them being hired as the scripters for DC's controversial 1989 relaunch of the "Legion of Super-Heroes" title. Tom and Mary scripted the first fifty issues of "Legion of Super-Heroes" vol. 4, from 1989–1993. Working alongside Giffen for the first 36 issues, the Bierbaums dialogued the "Five Years Later" storyline. After Giffen's departure, the Bierbaums continued on the title for another year, overseeing the return of several classic characters, until leaving for "Legionnaires" (a spin-off title) after "Legion" #50 (Nov. 1993). They wrote "Legionnaires" for its first 15 issues, until 1994.

The Bierbaums and Giffen also worked together on DC's short-lived offbeat title "The Heckler" in 1992–1993.

Image Comics and other publishers

After their DC work, Tom and Mary went on to write various titles for Image Comics, including "Supreme", "SuperPatriot", ', and "Star", as well as ' and "Jurassic Park" for Topps Comics. Most recently, they worked on "Wonderlanders" for Oktomica and "Stormquest" for Blue Line Pro Comics.

Personal life

Never a full-time comic book writer, Bierbaum worked as a nurse until she retired in 1991 to raise their two children. She currently resides in Erie, Pennsylvania, along with Tom and their children.

Notes

References

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* [http://www.legiononline.net/volume5/creators.html The Legion of Super-Heroes Online Companion: Volume 5]