Barbara at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL
Barbara 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 and Giordano offered her a writing job.[2] 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).[3] 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.[4][5] In 1988, she wrote a Batgirl Special[6] and then co-wrote, with her then-husband Karl Kesel, a Hawk and Dove miniseries,[7] followed by an ongoing series that ran from 1989 until 1991. As a solo writer, Barbara Kesel scripted the licensed Dungeons & Dragons series Spelljammer in 1990–1991[8] and an adaptation of the D&D novel trilogy Avatar in 1991.
She became an editor at Dark Horse Comics in 1991[5] 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. In the second half of the 1990s, she also wrote for Image Comics, scripting all seven issues of Savant Garde, the miniseries Shattered Image with fellow writer Kurt Busiek, and issues of Stormwatch and WildC.A.T.s. For Marvel Comics, Kesel wrote the limited series Ultragirl (1996–1997) and (with Karl Kesel) the Captain America/Citizen V Annual '98. Kesel also returned to DC and wrote the Alpha Centurion Special (1996), several Superboy issues (1997), and the 'Girlfrenzy!'-oneshot Superman: Lois Lane as well as the Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl one-shot in 1998.[9]
As of 2008, she was part of the packaging company "The Pack" with Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent, and Dave Olbrich.[10] The same year, Barbara 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 Barbara Kesel to write the first issue starring the 1980s Avengers which was published in 2021.[11]
Currently (in 2022), she's working for tech-startup Urus Entertainment, creating a forthcoming new twist on comics.[12]
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.
Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner Award for Badlands, Aliens: Genocide and Star Wars.[14] 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.[15] She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August.[16] Received a Comic-Con International Inkpot Award on July 22, 2022, for "Achievement in Comic Arts".
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "1980s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 170. ISBN978-1465424563. Scribe Barbara Randall and penciller Barry Kitson retired Batgirl after one final adventure in her first solo comic.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 234. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Written by Barbara and Karl Kesel and drawn by future superstar Rob Liefeld, this five-issue miniseries reestablished the famous pair for a new generation.
^Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 236: "In this prestige format Elseworlds tale, a new take on the World's Finest team was delivered to readers courtesy of writer Barbara Kesel and plotter/artists Matt Haley and Tom Simmons."
