"Dale Messick who created Brenda Starr in the heydey of the serialized comic strip was an inspiration to Mary Lou as a young person and continues to hold a beacon lighting her creative

path to this day. Frequently there is a humorous angle to these works often creating autobiographic

tableaux casting popular culture characters to step in for the real life counterparts. The character Brenda Starr frequently acts as an alter ego in these works."   Karl Wirsum, Chicago Imagist