Tom Bierbaum
| Tom and Mary Bierbaum | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tom Bierbaum Mary-Catherine Gilmore Tom: 1956; Mary: 1955 Tom: Dover, Delaware; Mary: Long Beach, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writers |
|
Notable works
|
Legion of Super-Heroes |
Tom and Mary Bierbaum are an American husband-and-wife writing team, known for their work on the DC comic book Legion of Super-Heroes.
The Bierbaums entered the world of professional comic book writing through Legion fandom. Tom Bierbaum grew up as a Legion fan, first becoming exposed to the characters via Adventure Comics #310 (July 1963). Meanwhile, Mary Gilmore became a serious Legion fan in the late 1970s.
Tom joined the Legion fan club The Legion Outpost, and then the Legion amateur press association Interlac, where he met fellow member Gilmore, who had joined the APA around the same time. Through Interlac, the two struck up a relationship. Gilmore lived in California, and as Bierbaum had designs on getting into the entertainment industry, he moved out West, and the two began living together, eventually getting married.
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 of Super-Heroes story with the characters' names and situations changed.) They also submitted and published articles and stories in Interlac, which attracted the attention of veteran Legion artist Keith Giffen and future Legion editor Mark Waid (both of whom were also Interlac members).
Recognizing the Bierbaum's devotion to the Legion, Giffen contacted them, at first using them as a sounding board for his ideas about the Legion. Giffen also utilized a new costume idea for Element Lad that Tom suggested.
In 1984, when Giffen was looking for a scripter for his "Lightning" stories in Deluxe Comics' Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, he recruited the husband and wife writing team for the job. That, along with their work for DC's New Talent Showcase editor Sal Amendola, convinced the editors at DC (specifically Dick Giordano) that they were ready to become Legion scripters.
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