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 was "He with Secrets Fears the Sound...", a Batgirl backup feature, in Detective Comics #518. 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, 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 and an adaptation of the D&D novel trilogy Avatar in 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. 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 and the Captain America/Citizen V Annual '98. Kesel also returned to DC and wrote the Alpha Centurion Special, several Superboy issues, and the 'Girlfrenzy!'-oneshot Superman: Lois Lane as well as the one-shot in 1998. She worked as both a writer and an editor at CrossGen from 2000 to 2004 where she scripted the series Meridian, The First, Sigil and Solus as well as issues of CrossGen Chronicles. In 2007, Tokopop released the first volume of Legends of the Dark Crystal, an OEL manga based on Jim Henson's film The Dark Crystal, written by Kesel. Volume 2 was published in 2010. As of 2008, she was part of the book packaging company "The Pack" with Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent, and Dave Olbrich. The same year, Barbara Kesel began to work for IDW Publishing, writing a four-part Ghostwhisperercomic miniseries, another miniseries based on the adventure novel seriesRogue Angel and the comic adaptation of the animated filmIgor. In 2015, she wrote a Wonder Woman story for DC's digital series Sensation Comics, later published in print as Sensation Comics #13. 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 fellow comic book writer Karl Kesel but they have since divorced.
Awards
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 . She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August.
