Frenz began working for
Marvel Comics in the early 1980s. Frenz's early work includes such titles as
Ka-Zar the Savage,
Star Wars,
The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, and
Marvel Saga. His first credited story for Marvel was published in
Ka-Zar the Savage #16 (July 1982). 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. 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) and the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume in issue #252 (May 1984). Among the new characters introduced during his run were the
Puma in issue #256 (Sept. 1984) and
Silver Sable in #265 (June 1985). Frenz and
Tom DeFalco revealed that the "black suit" was an alien creature in issue #258 (Nov. 1984). 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. 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:
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. Eric Masterson later became the superhero known as
Thunderstrike and received his own series by DeFalco and Frenz in 1993. In 1995, Frenz moved to
DC Comics and became the artist on
Superman. Superman received a new costume, designed by Frenz himself, and new superpowers in
Superman vol. 2 #123 (May 1997). 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. Frenz returned to Marvel with the
Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives limited series, written by
Roger Stern, in 1997. DeFalco and Frenz reunited and introduced
Spider-Girl in
What If ...? vol. 2 #105 (Feb. 1998).
Spider-Girl became an ongoing series in October 1998 and ran until issue #100 (Sept. 2006). A new series,
The Amazing Spider-Girl, was launched the following December, Frenz drew all 30 issues until the series' cancellation in 2009. On June 4, 2009, Ron Frenz was the recipient of the 2009 Nemo Award for Excellence in the Cartoon Arts. 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. In 2021, Frenz also started to pencil another Sitcomics title:
The Heroes Union which was written by Roger Stern. 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. The one-shot comic book was crowdfunded via
Indiegogo and sent to its backers in February 2022. == Bibliography ==