Ronald Wade "Ron" 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 and Thor, for which he respectively co-created the characters of Mayday Parker and the New Warriors with writer Tom DeFalco.
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 which was written by Roger Stern.[28]
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.[29] The one-shot comic book was crowdfunded via Indiegogo and sent to its backers in February 2022.
Bibliography
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)
Big Bang
The National Guardians #1, 3 (2012, 2023)
Binge Books (Sitcomics)
Blue Baron #1–3 (2017–2020)
Heroes Union #1 (2021)
Heroes Union: The Witch and the Warriors #1 (2025)
7.Matthew K. Manning. Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging Dorling Kindersley, 2012^
8.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 139: "This particular tale was produced by plotter [Roger] Stern, scripter Tom DeFalco, breakdown artist Frenz, and finisher Brett Breeding."^
9.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 141: "Another new character to spin out of the imagination of writer DeFalco and artist Frenz would debut in this issue when the Puma went on the prowl after Spider-Man."^
10.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 148: "In a story written by Tom DeFalco and penciled by Ron Frenz, readers met Silver Sable for the first time."^
12.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 143: "[Stan] Lee's script was unmistakable and meshed well with drawings by Frenz and finishes by artists Bob Layton and Jackson Guice. The occasion for Stan's return was the wedding of J. Jonah Jameson to Doctor Marla Madison."^
13.Glenn Greenberg. When Hobby Met Spidey Back Issue!, TwoMorrows Publishing, August 2009^
15.Tom DeFalco. Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History Dorling Kindersley, 2008^
16.Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 264: "Distancing himself from his former identity as Thor, Eric Masterson earned his own ongoing series by Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz in Thunderstrike #1"^
17.Matthew K. Manning. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle Dorling Kindersley, 2010^
18.Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 279: "In Superman #123 ... Superman debuted his new blue-and-white costume with a little help from scripter Dan Jurgens and penciller Ron Frenz."^
19.Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 283: "The special written by Dan Jurgens, Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, and Louise Simonson, with pencils by Stuart Immonen, Ron Frenz, Tom Grummett, Paul Ryan, and Jon Bogdanove."^
20.Cowsill, Alan "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 234: "The mystery of the Hobgoblin's true identity was finally solved in this three issue miniseries by writer Roger Stern and artist Ron Frenz."^
21.Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 240: "Written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Ron Frenz, the story focused on May Parker, Peter {Parker] and [Mary Jane Watson's] teenage daughter."^
