Jenette Kahn

Jenette Kahn
Portrait of Jenette Kahn by Michael Netzer
Born	1948
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Publisher
Awards	Library of Congress Living Legends, 2000 Inkpot Award, 2010

Jenette Kahn (born 1948) is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to President. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of Editor-in-Chief while retaining the office of president. After 26 years with DC, she left the company in 2002 to pursue other endeavors.

Jenette Kahn grew up in Pennsylvania. Her father was a rabbi and her brother Si Kahn would become a singer-songwriter and activist. She was an avid comics fan, a practice supported by her parents, with particular favorites being Batman, Superman, Little Lulu, Uncle Scrooge, and Archie.

After graduating from Harvard University with honors in art history, she would found three magazines for young people. The original publication, Kids, was entirely written by children for one another. Although published in the early 1970s, Kids tackled subjects such as drug abuse, diversity, animal protection, and the environment.

Kahn's second magazine was Dynamite. Created for Scholastic Inc., it changed the fortunes of the company, becoming the most successful publication in its history and inspiring two similar periodicals for Scholastic, WOW and Bananas. Kahn followed with another magazine, Smash, for Xerox Education Publications and hired designer Milton Glaser as its art director.

Kahn was 28 years old when she became publisher of DC Comics in 1976, a division of Warner Bros. and home to over five thousand characters, including Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Sol Harrison served as the company's President. Kahn stated in a 2012 interview that "I can't really say that Sol and I had much of a working relationship. He, more than anybody, resented my being hired because he felt that the job [of publisher] was rightfully his." In February 1981, she became President following the retirement of Harrison. She was the youngest person in the company to become president of a division, and the first woman.