Barbara Kesel

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

Barbara Kesel initially entered the comics industry after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters. 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). She became an associate editor at DC Comics in 1985 and was promoted to editor the following year. In 1988, she wrote a Batgirl Special and then co-wrote, with her then-husband Karl Kesel, a Hawk and Dove miniseries. As a solo writer, Barbara Kesel scripted the Spelljammer series in 1990–1991. She became an editor at Dark Horse Comics in 1991 and later was part of Team CGW, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City location. Kesel returned to DC and wrote the Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl one-shot in 1998. She worked as both a writer and an editor at CrossGen from 2000 to 2004.

As of 2008, she was part of book packaging company The Pack, with Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent, and Dave Olbrich.

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.

She was married to fellow comic book writer Karl Kesel; they have since divorced.

Kesel has been 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.