Tom and Mary Bierbaum

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. Early on in their relationship, the Bierbaums wrote stories together, their first published piece being a Halloween-themed short story for a local newspaper which was a Legion of Super-Heroes story with the characters' names and situations changed. Keith Giffen and early writing work 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. == Writing method ==

As writing partners, the Bierbaums evolved a unique collaborating style. Generally, they work together in the conceptual stage, and then Tom writes the first draft. Mary works closely with Tom on the plotting, while Tom mainly writes the dialogue, with Mary acting as a sounding board for overall "feel and direction. == Notes ==