Mary Wilshire


Mary Wilshire is an American comics artist best known for her work on Red Sonja and Firestar for Marvel Comics.

Early life

Mary Wilshire graduated from the Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting.

Career

Mary Wilshire began her career in the comics industry drawing underground comix. Her earliest credited work was "Those Beautiful Babes in their Bain de Soleil", a four-page story in Wet Satin #2 published by Last Gasp. In 1980, she was hired by editor Larry Hama to work on Crazy Magazine for Marvel Comics. She became the artist of the Red Sonja series in 1983 and drew the comics adaptation of the character's 1985 film. Wilshire and writer Louise Simonson co-created Alistair Smythe, an enemy of Spider-Man, in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19. After a brief stint as the artist of the New Mutants, Wilshire collaborated with Tom DeFalco on the Firestar limited series. She then drew a Power Girl story for Secret Origins vol. 2 #11.
Wilshire drew "The Amazing Travel Bureau" feature in National Geographic World for several years. In 2006, she illustrated the Fat Free: The Amazing All-True Adventures of Supersize Woman! graphic novel published by Penguin/Tarcher. Publishers Weekly noted in their review of the book, "Wilshire's limpid-eyed charcoal sketches are sensitive and touching, and give a sophisticated sense of person and place. If anything saves the day, it's Wilshire's gorgeous art, not the message."

DC Comics