Frank Dirscherl

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Frank Dirscherl (born May 24, 1973) is a librarian, amateur historian and conducts comic book workshops for children, but is perhaps best known as a writer, most notably featuring his character The Wraith, in a series of comic books and novels, published by his own Trinity Comics and Coscom Entertainment.

Dirscherl has been working as a librarian in Australia since 1994, and continues to do so currently at Auburn Library in Sydney. Interested in writing all his life, Dirscherl started his public forays into writing with his first website in 1998, titled 'Fabio2's BATMAN 5 Page.' On it, he reported on the news & rumours re: that upcoming film (which eventually saw fruition as Batman Begins), but also posted his fan Batman film scripts, his first true writing for an audience, and later received some tutoring from Hollywood screenwriter Alex Ford. As the years went by, Dirscherl continued running his website (adding his 'Fabio2's SUPERMAN LIVES Site' to the fold), through their various incarnations, until 2002, when he met online comic book creator/publisher Shane Melton, who encouraged Dirscherl to take his storytelling ideas to the next level.

The Wraith had been bumping around Dirscherl's head since 1998, when he created the character, but it wasn't until he met Melton online in 2002 that the character really came to life. Melton was in the process of establishing his Impulse Studios/Alliance Comics comic book publishing outfit, and in discussions with Dirscherl, encouraged him to try The Wraith out in comic book format. The result was a script for a 4-issue mini-series, which was set for release in 2002/3. Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, Alliance Comics folded before one issue could see print. Dirscherl decided to form his own publishing business, which he named Trinity Comics, based on the three creators then working on The Wraith (Dirscherl, John Jett and Craig Shepard) ^[1]. Since then, Trinity Comics' output has not been large, but they did finally release The Wraith #0 introductory comic book and, more recently, The Wraith #1. Plans are in place for several more issues in the series, including the War of the Independents crossover The Wraith/Shadowflame/Johnny Saturn: Curse of the Cortes Stone (with Arcana Studios) and Global Champions.

Where Dirscherl has achieved real, albeit small scale, success is with his novels ^[2]. Having garnered the interest of publisher A.P. Fuchs, whose Coscom Entertainment specialises in speculative and superhero fiction, Dirscherl signed a contract for a series of Wraith novels, starting with The Wraith in 2005 and Valley of Evil in 2006. Based on the first novel, a low budget independent film was made in conjunction with Sir Reel Films, entitled The Wraith: Eyes of Judgment, which featured the talents of such artists as Larry Groupé and Scott Leva, and which went on to receive a cinema season in the US, became an official entrant in the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (receiving several honourable mentions ^[3], and a successful release on DVD^[4]. Coscom Entertainment went on to release a non-fiction movie guide in conjunction with the film's release. 2006 was also a banner year for Dirscherl in that he signed a contract with Shocker Toys for a series of action figures as part of their Indie Spotlight series, set for release in 2007 and beyond .

Dirscherl continues writing the adventures of The Wraith, in both comic book and novel format, and has since extended his career into writing pulp novel stories of other characters, most notably for Wild Cat Books. He is also a frequent contributor to the Pulp Faction forums.

Dirscherl is also known for his generosity in taking time to chat with his fans on his private message board, where he also takes time to discuss superhero related happenings. Dirscherl himself is the most active member of his message board.

He also writes Deadly Owl, another pulp character set for publishing.

^ "Trinity Comics is born! The Wraith publication continues!!", Press Release, The Wraith's Lair website, July, 31 2003
^ "Aussie Creator Serves Up Sequel to Acclaimed Underground Superhero Novel", Coscom Entertainment press release, November 2006
^ "Lair Lines", The Wraith: Eyes of Judgment movie website, January 10, 2006
^ Comics Continuum website, May 16, 2006