Loading AI tools
Ronald Wade Frenz (born February 1, 1960)[1] is an American comics artist known for his work for Marvel Comics. He is well known for his 1980s work on The Amazing Spider-Man, particularly introducing the hero's black costume, and later for his work on Spider-Girl whom he co-created with writer Tom DeFalco. Frenz and DeFalco had earlier co-created the New Warriors in the pages of Thor.
| Ron Frenz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ronald Wade Frenz February 1, 1960 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller |
Notable works | |
| catskillcomics | |
Frenz began working for Marvel Comics in the early 1980s. Frenz's early work includes such titles as Ka-Zar the Savage, Star Wars,[2] The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, and Marvel Saga.[3] His first credited story for Marvel was published in Ka-Zar the Savage #16 (July 1982).[4]
Frenz has a history of working on comic book series in which the characters were not in their original costumes/identities. Spider-Man wore his black costume, Thor took on a new secret identity and look, and Superman changed costumes and powers while Frenz was the regular artist on their titles.[5]
Frenz became the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man in 1984 and the stories he pencilled included "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" in issue #248 (Jan. 1984)[6][7] and the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume in issue #252 (May 1984).[8] Among the new characters introduced during his run were the Puma in issue #256 (Sept. 1984)[9] and Silver Sable in #265 (June 1985).[10] Frenz and Tom DeFalco revealed that the "black suit" was an alien creature in issue #258 (Nov. 1984).[11] Frenz drew The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #18 (1984), a story written by Stan Lee, which featured the wedding of Spider-Man supporting characters J. Jonah Jameson and Marla Madison.[12] Frenz had originally been brought onto the series as a short-term substitute for John Romita Jr., but was retained when it became apparent that he meshed well with series writer DeFalco. Frenz recounted:
Initially, I was hired to only do six issues, while Romita, Jr. went off to get X-Men up and running. And he was supposed to come back and do both X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man. And six issues in, I found out from [editor] Danny Fingeroth that JR had come into the office and said he'd seen the stuff that Tom and I were doing, and Danny said, "Yeah, I'm really happy with what they're doing." And JR said, "You are, aren't you?" And Danny said, "Yeah, I think they're really gelling as a team." And JR said, "If you're really happy with these guys, give it to them." And the first time I met JR, I thanked him for my run on Spider-Man.[13]
Jim Owsley, editor of the Spider-Man titles at the time, has noted that "Frenz was passionate about Spider-Man, verging on fanatical."[14] In 1986, Frenz and DeFalco were removed from The Amazing Spider-Man by Owsley.[13][14] Frenz and DeFalco became the creative team on Thor in 1987[4] and introduced the Eric Masterson character in Thor #391 (May 1988).[15] Eric Masterson later became the superhero known as Thunderstrike and received his own series by DeFalco and Frenz in 1993.[16]
In 1995, Frenz moved to DC Comics and became the artist on Superman.[4] The following year, he was one of the many creators who contributed to the Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot wherein the title character married Lois Lane.[17] Superman received a new costume, designed by Frenz himself, and new superpowers in Superman vol. 2 #123 (May 1997).[18] Frenz drew part of the Superman Red/Superman Blue one-shot which launched the storyline of the same name which ran through the various Superman titles.[19]
Frenz returned to Marvel with the Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives limited series, written by Roger Stern, in 1997.[20] DeFalco and Frenz reunited and introduced Spider-Girl in What If ...? vol. 2 #105 (Feb. 1998).[21] Spider-Girl became an ongoing series in October 1998[22] and ran until issue #100 (Sept. 2006).[23] A new series, The Amazing Spider-Girl, was launched the following December,[24] Frenz drew all 30 issues until the series' cancellation in 2009.[25]
On June 4, 2009, Ron Frenz was the recipient of the 2009 Nemo Award for Excellence in the Cartoon Arts.[26]
In 2017, Ron Frenz and long-time inking collaborator Sal Buscema began working on The Blue Baron, written by Darin Henry and published by Sitcomics.[27] In 2021, Frenz also started to pencil another Sitcomics title: The Heroes Union.
He rejoined Tom DeFalco to co-create and pencil The R.I.G.H.T. Project for Apex Comic Group, again inked by Sal Buscema.[28] The one-shot comicbook was crowdfunded via Indiegogo and sent to its backers in February 2022.
Apex Comics Group
- The R.I.G.H.T. Project #1 (2022)
Archie Comics
- Archie & Friends #153 (2011)
- Jughead's Double Digest #175–177 (2012)
- The Mighty Crusaders: The Lost Crusade oneshot (2015)
Capstone Publishers
- John Sutter and the California Gold Rush (2006)
- Winter at Valley Forge (2006)
DC Comics
- Action Comics #759 (1999)
- The Adventures of Superman #556, 572 (1998–1999)
- Booster Gold: Futures End #1 (2014)
- The Flash Annual #3 (2014)
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 (2011)
- Legion Lost #9–12, #0 (2011–2012)
- The Ravagers #8 (2013)
- Superboy vol. 5 #15–16 (2013)
- Superman vol. 2 #106–113, 115–120, 122–128, 131–135, 149, Annual #1–2 (1987–1988, 1995–1999)
- Superman Beyond #0 (2011)
- Superman Red/Superman Blue #1 (1998)
- Superman: Secret Files #1 (1998)
- Superman: The Man of Steel #94 (1999)
- Superman: The Wedding Album #1 (1996)
- Team 7 #1–2 (2012–2013)
- Who's Who in Star Trek #1–2 (1987)
- Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #2, 5–6 (1988)
- Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #20, 24 (1986–1987)
- Who's Who: Update '87 #5 (1987)
Future Comics
- Freemind #6 (2003)
IDW Publishing
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #177, 182, Annual 2012 (2012)
Image Comics
- Randy O'Donnell is the M@n #1 (flipside comic Mr. Right #0) (2001)
- Savage Dragon #200 (2014)
Marvel Comics
- A-Next #1–12 (1998–1999)
- Amazing Spider-Girl #1–30 (2006–2009)
- The Amazing Spider-Man #248, 251–252, 255–261, 263, 265, 268–271, 273, 275–277, 280, 283, Annual #18, Annual '96 (1984–1986, 1996)
- The Amazing Spider-Man Family #1–2, 5–8 (2008–2009)
- The Avengers Annual #16 (1987)
- Black Knight oneshot (2010)
- Buzz #1–3 (2000)
- Captain America #290, 383, Annual #9 (1984–1991)
- Captain America vol. 3 #24 (1999)
- Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6–7 (1999)
- The Clone Conspiracy #1 (2016)
- D.P. 7 #21 (1988)
- Darkdevil #1–3 (2000)
- Defenders vol. 2 #4, 8–9 (2001)
- Fantastic Four #296 (1986)
- Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #4–5 (1983)
- Hercules and the Heart of Chaos #1–3 (1997)
- Hulk #10 (2000)
- Hulk Smash Avengers #1 (2012)
- Iron Age #2 (2011)
- Iron Man #257 (1990)
- Ka-Zar the Savage #16–17, 20–22, 25–26, 29 (1982–1983)
- Kickers, Inc. #1–3 (1986–1987)
- King Conan #12 (1982)
- Magik #3 (1984)
- Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2010)
- Marvel Comics #1000 (2019)
- Marvels Comics: Captain America #1 (2000)
- Marvel Knights 4 #21 (2005)
- Marvel Saga #1, 3 (1985–1986)
- Marvel Team-Up #134–136, 140, Annual #6 (1983–1984)
- The Saga of Crystar #3 (1983)
- The Sensational Spider-Man: Self-Improvement #1 (2019)
- She-Hulk #9 (2006)
- Silver Surfer #32 (1989)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man #80 (1983)
- The Spectacular Spider-Girl #1–4 (2010)
- Spider-Girl #½, 18, 32, 42, 47, 52, 57–70, 72–73, 75–79, 81–100 (1999–2006)
- Spider-Girl: The End #1 (2010)
- Spider-Island #1–5 (MC2 feature) (2015)
- Spider-Man #26 (1992)
- Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1–3 (1997)
- Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin #1–3 (2000)
- Spider-Verse Team-Up #3 (2015)
- Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #11–12 (2014)
- Star Wars #67, 71–77, 79–82, 99 (1983–1985)
- Thor (vol. 1) #383–384, 386–400, 402–414, 416–430, 432–444, 447–450, 453–454, 456–459, 490, Annual #16 (1987–1995)
- Thor (vol. 6) #25 (2022)
- Thor: The Worthy #1 (Thunderstrike) (2020)
- Thunderstrike #1–10, 12–24 (1993–1995)
- Thunderstrike vol. 2 #1–5 (2011)
- Untold Tales of Spider-Man #9, 25 (1996–1997)
- Web of Spider-Man vol. 2 #1–7 (Spider-Girl feature) (2009–2010)
- Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #17–18 (2000)
- What If...? #42, 46 (1983–1984)
- What If vol. 2 #105, 107 (1998)
- Wild Thing #0 (1999)
Moonstone Books
- Kolchak: Tales of the Night Stalker #3 (2003)
- Kolchak Tales: Ghost Stories #1 (2006)
Sitcomics
- Blue Baron #1–3 (2017–2020)
- Heroes Union #1 (2021)
- Unbeatable Blue Baron #1 (2022)
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
