[3][4][1] After college, she returned to the Bay Area, where she received support from Trina Robbins, Caryn Leschen, Roxxie, Angela Bocage, and Robert Triptow.
In 1992 she was a regular feature in The Advocate (LGBT magazine), and created the characters Immola and the Luna Legion, the first team of lesbian superheroes, appearing in Oh..., a female-oriented comics anthology.
[9] As an editor, Hilty has worked with writers and cartoonists such as Neil Gaiman, G. Willow Wilson, Greg Rucka, Gene Luen Yang, Jim Ottaviani, and Kevin Baker.
[4] She switched to editing superhero titles in 2000, established the Johnny DC imprint for young readers in 2004, and in 2008 began curating original graphic novels for Vertigo.
[12][14] Hilty continues to work on independent comic book projects with a variety of publishers, including The Curie Society (MIT Press) and Blue Man World.