The Wraith's Frank Dirscherl Sits down with KomiKazee

by: curvezilla 2 years, 7 months, 4 days, 17 hours, 20 minutes ago 2

Curvezilla: Thanks for doing the interview with us. I hope we are not taking up too much time out of your busy schedule.

Frank Dirscherl: Not at all, my pleasure.

Curvezilla: First off tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved with comics.

FD: I’ve been a reader/collector of comics almost my entire life, since avery young age in the mid-to-late 70s. I’ve been running various websites since 1998, and in 2002, I met online the publisher of Alliance Comics, Shane Melton. I’d been somewhat dissatisfied with the state of the industry the last few years, and we got to talking about what I would do were I in the position to create a comic series of my own. I’d created a character called The Wraith back in 1998, as my homage mix of 1970s comic book and pulp magazines (ala the Shadow and the Spider), but never took it any further than that. Melton encouraged me to put my ideas onto paper, soto speak, and it was then that The Wraith 4-issue comic book mini-series was born. However, just before the finished first issue was due to go to press, Alliance Comics went bust. Knowing I had something I thought pretty special on my hands, I and my then partners decided to form Trinity Comics and pursue our Wraith publishing plans from there.

Curvezilla: I know you have a lot of things going on but it seem to me that The Wraith is your labor of love. What should the Komikazee Nation know about The Wraith?

FD: He is, it truly is a labor of love. I’ve been working practically 24/7 on the character since 2002...that’s a long time, so you have to love what you’re doing or there’s no point. The Wraith is a mix of the kinds ofstories Steve Englehart, Denny O’Neil and Gerry Conway were writing in the comics of the 1970s and 80s and with the superbly entertaining pulp magazine stories of the 1930s and 40s. And, the intriguing thing is, The Wraith character himself is, in a strange way, two characters in one. The story starts with The Wraith established as millionaire recluse Paul Sanderson. Unfortunately, Sanderson is mortally wounded in combat with his nemesis Robert Latham, and is forced to pass on his powers (The Wraith has the ability, via the energy buildup appearing on his chest--known as the Eyes of Judgment--to force evildoers who gaze into it to feel the pain and guilt of everyone of their victims) to his chosen successor, cop Michael Reeve. What that means is, Reeve loses his soul, his personality, his memories, his emotions, to be replaced by that of Sanderson. So, Reeve nowthinks he is The Wraith, thinks he is Paul Sanderson. However, the process was flawed somehow, and in time, he regains his Michael Reeve persona,while retaining that of Sanderson! So, he really is two people in one.

Curvezilla: Where can we get issues of The Wraith?

FD: The Wraith comic books, novels, merchandise etc. are all available from The Wraith Online website, as well as select stores.

Curvezilla: What were some of your influences when you created The Wraith?

FD: Well, I think I covered those above. My real inspirations for The Wraith were the classic Batman comics from the 1970s and early 80s, and pulp magazines featuring the Spider from the 1940s. The Spider, really, was the main influence. The parallels are there for those familiar with the genre.

Curvezilla: Not only are you working in comics but you write books and screenplays too. What does an average day look like for a guy with so many irons in the fire?

FD: I work a day job as a librarian too. The Wraith is my joy, my passion, so I make sure to put in the time to make him, and myself, a success. I’ve worked too hard for too long to not make this work. So, no matter what theday is, I make sure to get some writing done, or promote the character online, or liase with my art team, something productive, always pushing forward. I’m currently hard at work on the third Wraith novel, Cult of the Damned (which will come out in 2007), while the second novel, Valley of Evil, will be out later this year in hardcover from Coscom Entertainment.

Curvezilla: I hear there is a Wraith movie out there. Where can we see it and what�??s it all about?

FD: The Wraith: Eyes of Judgment is a 48-minute low budget live action short film that has been over 2 years in the making. Based on the comic character and the first novel, it had its bigscreen premiere at the Abingdon Cinemall, Virginia last August, and received several honorable mentions at the New York International Film Festival last November. The 2-disc DVD set will go on sale on March 28, and will be available to buy (via links to Customflix) from The Wraith Online (http://www.the-wraith.com), The Wraith movie website and the Sir Reel Filmswebsite . The film was produced for a measly $15,000, but we were able to gain the services of such professionals as Emmy-award winner Larry Groupe to supply the music score, Scott Leva(X-Men, Red Eye) as our stunt coordinator/fight coreographer, Marc Kimballas our visual effects supervisor, Voodoo Studios as our sound effects designers and foley artists, Xtreme Design FX and Universal Designs as ourcostume effects studios and more. The film is an adaptation of the comics character, and is based on portions of the first Wraith novel, featuring the origin of the character and his battles with archenemy Robert Latham.

Curvezilla: It�??s time to come clean Frank. Who is your favorite Superhero of all time?

FD: The Wraith, of course Apart from my own character, my favorites are those classic archetypes like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Shadow,the Spider, the Phantom. If you were to peg me to a specific, I think I’d say Batman and the Spider.

Curvezilla: Thanks for sitting down with us and we hope to talk with you again soon, but until then where can we keep up with what you�??re doing?

FD: Thanks, it’s been my absolute pleasure. You can keep track of me and my work at The Wraith Online and my blog Lair Lines. Hope to see you there