Roger Stern, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema reunite for The Heroes Union - the first Comics Code Authority book in a decade

Roger Stern, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema are responsible for some of the most memorable Marvel stories in history, and they are reuniting for an all-new group of heroes - with an eye towards the business of superheroes.

Stern, Frenz, and Buscema have completed work on a 68-page one-shot titled The Heroes Union #1 for the upstart company Binge Books.

"Naucrate the Auteur Cosmic — half the universe celebrates her genius, the other half cowers before her world-shattering power. And the only ones who can stop her are Earth&'s foremost super-group… The Heroes Union!" reads Binge Books' description of The Heroes Union #1.

"Legendary creators Roger Stern (The Avengers), Ron Frenz (Thor) and Sal Buscema (Captain America) unite to chronicle the adventures of a marvelous new generation of heroes in a cosmic epic bursting with so many breathtaking twists and thrills, it should probably come with seat belts!"

The Heroes Union is a novel spin on the superhero genre, getting into the idea of unions as "a unique way to teach children about business." The new heroes Stern, Frenz, and Buscema are creating have names like Start-Up, Windfall, and Protege.

Stern and Frenz are known as the writer and artist of arguably the greatest standalone issue of Spider-Man ever, 'The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man' from Amazing Spider-Man #248. Stern and Frenz have only partnered up a few other times since, while Buscema has become Frenz's go-to finisher/inker since starting his run on Spider-Girl in 2003.

The Heroes Union #1 is the first in several planned Binge Book releases, who plan on specializing in graphic novel-length stories, but in the physical format of a comic book. Bing Books publisher Darin Henry compares the format to European style 'comic albums.'

"Like millions of other kids, I grew up devouring comics by Roger Stern, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema, so to have some of the 20th century's greatest creators introducing readers to the 21st Century's greatest heroes is a personal and professional dream come true," says Binge Books' founder/publisher Darin Henry. "I was inspired to create Binge Books by European comic albums like TinTin and Asterix because I wanted to publish affordable graphic novellas for US readers to enjoy."

The Binge Books format is a 68-page comic book priced at $4.99. Each comic book will have a limited print run, with each copy uniquely numbered for collectors.

And arguably most unique of all is that The Heroes Union #1 will be the first comic in over a decade to be 'approved' by the defunct Comics Code Authority. Binge Books has worked out a deal with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which owns the Comics Code Authority seal, to have this bear the CCA approval stamp.

The Heroes Union #1 goes on sale on August 4.

Roger Stern is one of the best Spider-Man writers of all time.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)