Ron Frenz
Encyclopedia
Ronald Wade Frenz is an American
comic book
artist known for his work for Marvel Comics
. He is well-known for his 1980s work on Amazing Spider-Man, and more recently, for his work on Spider-Girl
(who he co-created with writer Tom DeFalco
). Frenz also co-created the New Warriors
in the pages of The Mighty Thor
.
Frenz's other work includes such titles as The Mighty Thor
, Ka-Zar the Savage
, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones
, Star Wars
, Marvel Saga, Thunderstrike
and Superman
.
When DC Comics
decided to change Superman
's costume and powers, it was Frenz's design that was chosen for Superman's new look. Frenz has a history of working on books where 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 all while Frenz was the regular artist on their titles.
Frenz is known for his frequent collaborations with writer DeFalco, including the short-lived series A-Next
. Several of Frenz's creations/co-creations have gone on to be featured in regular or limited series at both Marvel and DC, including Thunderstrike
, New Warriors
and Strange Visitor
. His characters for Marvel's MC2 line have produced series featuring A-Next
, J2
, Dark Devil, The Buzz
and the only female character to reach one hundred consecutive issues at Marvel, Spider-Girl
.
DeFalco has called Frenz one of his favorite collaborators, and the creative team of DeFalco, Frenz and inker Josef Rubinstein
produced one of the most acclaimed runs on The Amazing Spider-Man. Frenz replaced John Romita, Jr.
as the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man in 1984 and the memorable stories he pencilled (written mainly by Roger Stern
and then by DeFalco) included "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" in issue #248, the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume in issue #252, most of the original stories featuring The Hobgoblin
, and Spider-Man's battle with Firelord
in issues #269-270. It was Frenz and Defalco that made the "black suit" a symbiote and were indirectly responsible for the character Venom
.
Frenz's lean, quirky rendition of Spider-Man/Peter Parker was closer to the stylings of original Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko
than most of the post-Ditko artists (who typically followed the model of John Romita, Sr.
). Jim Owsley, editor of the Spider-Man titles at the time, has noted that "Frenz was passionate about Spider-Man, verging on fanatical."
In 1986, Frenz and DeFalco were removed from The Amazing Spider-Man by Owsley, acting under the orders of Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
. Frenz has returned sporadically since to pencil Spider-Man stories, including the 1996 mini-series Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives, written by Roger Stern
.
Ron has worked with Marvel's Spider-Girl as penciler,amd illustrated the "This Happened to Me" feature in the magazine Outdoor Life
. He is also a contributing editor to Charlton Spotlight
magazine.
On June 4, 2009 Ron Frenz was the recipient of the 2009 Nemo Award for Excellence in the Cartoon Arts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
artist known for his work for 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...
. He is well-known for his 1980s work on Amazing Spider-Man, and more recently, for his work on Spider-Girl
Spider-Girl
Spider-Girl is a superheroine in Marvel Comics' MC2 universe. The character was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz as the teenage daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, and first appeared in What If #105...
(who he co-created with writer Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well known for his association with Marvel Comics and in particular for his work with Spider-Man.-Career:...
). Frenz also co-created the New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
in the pages of The Mighty Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
.
Frenz's other work includes such titles as The Mighty Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
, Ka-Zar the Savage
Ka-Zar
Ka-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics...
, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones comic books
The Indiana Jones franchise has produced a large number of comic books. Marvel Comics initially owned the rights before passing them to Dark Horse Comics in 1990...
, 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....
, Marvel Saga, Thunderstrike
Thunderstrike (Eric Masterson)
Eric Masterson is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, a superhero that has appeared as Thor and later Thunderstrike. The character was introduced as a supporting character in the Thor title, but continued in several other comic books, including the self-titled series Thunderstrike...
and Superman
Superman (vol. 2)
Superman was an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name. The second volume of the previous ongoing Superman title, the series was published from cover dates January 1987 to April 2006, and ran for 228 issues...
.
When 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...
decided to change 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...
's costume and powers, it was Frenz's design that was chosen for Superman's new look. Frenz has a history of working on books where 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 all while Frenz was the regular artist on their titles.
Frenz is known for his frequent collaborations with writer DeFalco, including the short-lived series A-Next
A-Next
A-Next is the Marvel Comics' MC2 universe version of the Avengers. The team made its first appearance in What If? #105, the first comic featuring Spider-Girl, and the team's origin story was told in the A-Next #1, cover dated October 1998....
. Several of Frenz's creations/co-creations have gone on to be featured in regular or limited series at both Marvel and DC, including Thunderstrike
Thunderstrike (Eric Masterson)
Eric Masterson is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, a superhero that has appeared as Thor and later Thunderstrike. The character was introduced as a supporting character in the Thor title, but continued in several other comic books, including the self-titled series Thunderstrike...
, New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
and Strange Visitor
Strange Visitor
Strange Visitor aka Sharon Vance first appeared in Superman v2, #149 of October 1999, wearing Superman's old containment suit and soon discovered to be the cosmic entity, Kismet.-Fictional character biography:...
. His characters for Marvel's MC2 line have produced series featuring A-Next
A-Next
A-Next is the Marvel Comics' MC2 universe version of the Avengers. The team made its first appearance in What If? #105, the first comic featuring Spider-Girl, and the team's origin story was told in the A-Next #1, cover dated October 1998....
, J2
J2 (comics)
J2 is a fictional comic book mutant superhero in the Marvel Universe. He exists in MC2, an alternate future timeline of the main Marvel continuity and is the son of the former supervillain Juggernaut. J2 is a member of the future incarnation of the Avengers, A-Next. J2 once had his own series,...
, Dark Devil, The Buzz
The Buzz
The Buzz may refer to:*The Buzz , a fictional character in the Marvel Comics' series Spider-Girl*The Buzz , a television show on the UK channel Eat Cinema...
and the only female character to reach one hundred consecutive issues at Marvel, Spider-Girl
Spider-Girl
Spider-Girl is a superheroine in Marvel Comics' MC2 universe. The character was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz as the teenage daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, and first appeared in What If #105...
.
DeFalco has called Frenz one of his favorite collaborators, and the creative team of DeFalco, Frenz and inker Josef Rubinstein
Josef Rubinstein
Josef "Joe" Rubinstein is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.-Career:...
produced one of the most acclaimed runs on The Amazing Spider-Man. Frenz replaced John Romita, Jr.
John Romita, Jr.
John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...
as the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man in 1984 and the memorable stories he pencilled (written mainly by Roger Stern
Roger Stern
Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...
and then by DeFalco) included "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" in issue #248, the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume in issue #252, most of the original stories featuring The Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin (comics)
The Hobgoblin is the alias of several fictional characters that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known Hobgoblin is Roderick Kingsley. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #238, and was created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Sr...
, and Spider-Man's battle with Firelord
Firelord
Firelord is a character in the fictional Marvel Universe. The character was created by Gerry Conway and John Buscema, and first appears in Thor #225 .-Fictional character biography:...
in issues #269-270. It was Frenz and Defalco that made the "black suit" a symbiote and were indirectly responsible for the character Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
.
Frenz's lean, quirky rendition of Spider-Man/Peter Parker was closer to the stylings of original Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
than most of the post-Ditko artists (who typically followed the model of John Romita, Sr.
John Romita, Sr.
John V. Romita, Sr. is an Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man...
). Jim Owsley, editor of the Spider-Man titles at the time, has noted that "Frenz was passionate about Spider-Man, verging on fanatical."
In 1986, Frenz and DeFalco were removed from The Amazing Spider-Man by Owsley, acting under the orders of Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
. Frenz has returned sporadically since to pencil Spider-Man stories, including the 1996 mini-series Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives, written by Roger Stern
Roger Stern
Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...
.
Ron has worked with Marvel's Spider-Girl as penciler,amd illustrated the "This Happened to Me" feature in the magazine Outdoor Life
Outdoor Life
Outdoor Life is an outdoors magazine about hunting, fishing, survival and camping. It is a sister magazine of Field & Stream. Together with Sports Afield, they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing. Outdoor Life launched in Denver, Colorado in January 1898. Founder and...
. He is also a contributing editor to Charlton Spotlight
Charlton spotlight
Charlton Spotlight is a magazine dedicated to "Exploring the history of the Charlton Comics Group". It is published by Argo Press. It's publisher/editor is Michael Ambrose...
magazine.
On June 4, 2009 Ron Frenz was the recipient of the 2009 Nemo Award for Excellence in the Cartoon Arts.