Jenette Kahn is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to President and Editor-in-chief. After 26 years with DC, she stepped down in 2002 to pursue other endeavors, including promoting her book In Your Space: Personalizing Your Home and Office (ISBN 0-7892-0755-9), published by Abbeville in 2002.
Kahn grew up in Pennsylvania with her parents (her father was a Rabbi) and brother Si. After graduating from Harvard with honors in art history, she went on to found Kids, Dynamite! and Smash magazines. Though she was just 25 years old when she founded Smash, Kahn was savvy enough to convince legendary designer Milton Glaser to become the magazine’s art director.
Kahn was the driving creative force behind the growth of a comic book imprint into the multi-billion dollar home of some of the most recognized iconic characters in the world, including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (although all of which had been DC properties for at least 35 years prior to her association with the company). Along with editor and executive vice president Paul Levitz and managing editor Dick Giordano, she was responsible for the 1970s and 1980s revitalization of the company's entire line of heroes, including the introduction of Dollar Comics publications. Others who played vital roles in the process were writers Marv Wolfman and Alan Moore, artists George Pérez and Keith Giffen, and editor Karen Berger.
In the fifth season of Smallville the current editor of the Daily Planet Pauline Kahn was named after her.
Kahn received the Library of Congress Living Legends award in the "Writers and Artists" category in April 2000 for her significant contributions to America's cultural heritage.
