Barbara Kesel
Encyclopedia
Barbara Randall Kesel is an American
writer
and editor
of comic book
s; her bibliography includes work for DC Comics
, Marvel Comics
, Crossgen
, Image Comics
and Dark Horse Comics
.
regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters.
At Dark Horse, Kesel was part of Team CGW
, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City
location.
She is currently part of book packaging company The Pack, alongside Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn
, Gordon Kent and Dave Olbrich.
Kesel is a very outspoken opponent of sexism
in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters, influencing her husband's work on Lois Lane
in the Superman
titles and creating 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 divorce
d.
for Badlands, Aliens
: Genocide and Star Wars
. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Award
s 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.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s; her bibliography includes work for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, Crossgen
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1998 to 2004.CrossGen Comics, Inc. was founded in 1998, by Tampa, Florida-based entrepreneur Mark Alessi who sought to create a comic book universe that was uniquely varied but also connected by a...
, Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
and Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
.
Biography
Kesel initially came into the comics world after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick GiordanoDick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...
regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters.
At Dark Horse, Kesel was part of Team CGW
Team CGW
Team CGW, short for Team Comics' Greatest World, is the group of five creators of the Comics' Greatest World line for Dark Horse Comics.The members are:* Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics' Publisher* Randy Stradley, creative director...
, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City
Golden City (comics)
Golden City is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics, and is part of the Comics Greatest World imprint.It was created by Team CGW.Golden City first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Golden City Week 1, in 1993...
location.
She is currently part of book packaging company The Pack, alongside Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn
Brian Augustyn
Brian Augustyn is an award-winning comic book editor and writer. He has often worked, as both an editor and writer, with writer Mark Waid.-Biography:...
, Gordon Kent and Dave Olbrich.
Kesel is a very outspoken opponent of sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters, influencing her husband's work on Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
in the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
titles and creating Grace
Grace (Dark Horse Comics)
Grace is a fictional character, a Dark Horse Comics superheroine. The character first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Golden City Week 1 , created by Barbara Kesel and the other members of Team CGW....
, the ruler of the Golden City location in Comics' Greatest World
Comics Greatest World
Comics' Greatest World was an imprint of Dark Horse Comics. It was created by Team CGW. Originally conceived in 1990, it took three years for the line to be released, which led to an industry-wide perception that it was created to capitalize on the speculator mania of the early 1990s. When the...
.
She was married to fellow comic book writer Karl Kesel
Karl Kesel
Karl Kesel is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics...
; they have since divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d.
Characters created
- GraceGrace (Dark Horse Comics)Grace is a fictional character, a Dark Horse Comics superheroine. The character first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Golden City Week 1 , created by Barbara Kesel and the other members of Team CGW....
- Malice Vundabar
- Speed QueenSpeed Queen (comics)Speed Queen is a fictional extraterrestrial supervillain published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Hawk and Dove vol. 2 #21 , and was created by Karl Kesel, Barbara Kesel and Steve Erwin.-Fictional character biography:...
- EnsonEnsonEnson is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He is a guide character in the Sigil comic series. His charge is Seahn, the most powerful and ambitious of the secundea in the House Dexter. Enson appears as a huge grey-skin Golem-like figure with strange horns around his mouth. He is...
- Catalyst: Agents of ChangeCatalyst: Agents of ChangeCatalyst is a superhero team appearing in comics published by Dark Horse Comics under the imprint Comics Greatest World. It first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Golden City Week 4...
(Team) - WytureWytureWyture is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She is the guide character in the Sigil comic series. Her charge is Persha, the daughter of Ingra and Pyrem. Wyture appears as a mysterious female who is always at Persha's side. She offers suggestions to Persha.-Character...
- Lindy KarstenLindy KarstenLindy Karsten is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in the Solus series.-Character details:She is a small, intelligent, somewhat nerdy young woman with a green gem between her eyes. She wears a yellow jump suit with her sigil logo on the front and big metallic gloves...
- Ultra GirlUltra GirlUltra Girl , also known as Ultra-Girl, is a fictional superhero published by Marvel Comics...
- TitanTitan (Dark Horse Comics)Titan was a Dark Horse Comics superhero.He first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Golden City Week 3 .He was created by Barbara Kesel and the other members of Team CGW....
- Sephie of MeridianSephie of MeridianSephie of Meridian is a fictional character, the chief protagonist in CrossGen Comics' comic book series Meridian. Her name is a contraction of "Persephone".*Sigil Location: Forehead-Plot synopsis:...
- Ilahn of CadadorIlahn of CadadorIlahn of Cadador is a fictional character, the former Minister of the floating-island city-state of Cadador on the planet Demetria, in the Sigilverse of the comic book series Meridian, published by Crossgen Comics.Sigil Location: Throat...
- SolusandraSolusandraSolusandra is a character created by CrossGen Entertainment. She is perhaps the most essential character to the "Big Picture" storyline, as she is the orange eyed being who created the Sigil-Bearers. She was exclusively found in the comic Solus and appeared in every Crossgen Comic that concerned...
- Bloody Mary
- Princess Tot-ma
Awards
Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner AwardEisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Badlands, Aliens
Aliens (comic book)
The Aliens comic books were first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1988 and set in the Alien fictional universe.Some stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, the first mini-series features...
: Genocide and Star Wars
Star Wars (comics)
Comic books based on Star Wars have been published by Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics.-Marvel:The Marvel published a series of Star Wars comic books from 1977 to 1986, lasting 107 issues and 3 annuals....
. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Award
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
s for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is the first Hellboy comic book mini-series, published by Dark Horse Comics. It was conceived and illustrated by Mike Mignola and scripted by John Byrne.This was, in part, the basis for the first Hellboy motion picture....
. She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
: The Wolves of St. August.
External links
- Barbara Kesel at ComicSpace
- Comics Script Writing panel
Interviews
- The Accidental Writer: Barbara Kesel, Sequential Tart, May 2000
- Chronicling The CrossGen Creators: Part I, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, May 24, 2000