Barbara Kesel

Barbara Randall Kesel (; Randall, born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics.

Biography Kesel initially entered the comics industry as college student after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters, when Giordano then offered her a writing job. Her first published comics story (credited as "Barbara J. Randall") was "He with Secrets Fears the Sound...", a Batgirl backup feature, in Detective Comics #518 (Sept. 1982). After receiving her college degree in drama studies in 1983, she became an associate editor at DC Comics in 1984, and was promoted to editor the following year. In 1988, she wrote a Batgirl Special and then co-wrote, with then-husband Karl Kesel, a Hawk and Dove miniseries, followed by an ongoing series that ran from 1989 until 1991. As a solo writer, Kesel scripted the licensed Dungeons & Dragons series Spelljammer in 1990–1991 and an adaptation of the D&D novel trilogy Avatar in 1991.

Kesel became an editor at Dark Horse Comics in 1991

Barbara Kesel at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL in 2015.

From 2000 to 2004, Kesel worked as both a writer The same year, Kesel began to work for IDW Publishing, writing a four-part Ghostwhisperer comic miniseries, another miniseries based on the adventure novel series Rogue Angel and the comic adaptation of the animated film Igor. In 2015, she wrote a Wonder Woman story for DC's digital series Sensation Comics, later published in print as Sensation Comics #13. When fellow comic book writer Kurt Busiek put together creative teams for the eight standalone, oversized issues of his Marvels Snapshots series, he hired Kesel to write the first issue starring the 1980s Avengers, which was published in 2021.

As of 2022, Kesel started working for a tech-startup called Urus Entertainment.

Kesel is an outspoken opponent of sexism in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters and created Grace, the ruler of the Golden City location in Comics' Greatest World.

Personal life She was married to comic book writer and inker Karl Kesel;

Awards Kesel was nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner Award for Badlands, Aliens: Genocide and Star Wars. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Awards for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August. She received a Comic-Con International Inkpot Award on July 22, 2022, for "Achievement in Comic Arts".