The Who and the What and Why

The Inaugural Newsletter

Jan 09, 2023

First off, I should probably begin with the “Who” portion of my inaugural newsletter, so buckle-up because this rundown isn’t glamorous, but will hopefully show that I have worked as a writer and–surprisingly–also have the passion to jabber on about comic books for hours if left unchecked, much to my wife’s loving chagrin.

The Who

My name is Anthony Schultz and I am a writer. Pretty simple, right? I went to a middling-sized university and graduated with a BA in Creative Writing with a specialization in Fiction. You might wonder, “Then…why journalism?” There is a definite reason, just buckle-up and let this tale wash over you like a nice white gravy.

When I was in college, I had an internship with my hometown’s newspaper, which was and is still fairly large as far as print publications go in the post-Internet world. I was an excited, fresh-faced kid just out of high school, interested in politics and current events, and felt that I could hone my writing skills with some practical, informative pieces for my local paper. However, by the time I finished my internship, I had such a disdain for journalism, that I completely wrote it off from my career trajectory.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Editor in charge of the whole operation was amazing, the fellow interns that I worked with were friendly and inviting, and I don’t recall a ‘bad one’ of the bunch. My ire was routed ideologically. The idea that I had in my head of what journalists of that ilk were supposed to be doing and what they actually did…irked me. I won’t go into any further detail than that, but needless to say it dissuaded me from settling on a journalism degree and—instead—pushed me towards creative writing.

After a hiatus from college, some retail work, and a fresh outlook, I was finally back and finishing my settled upon degree, Creative Writing. Whilst working, I had actually begun to write and sell quite a bit of smaller pieces on my own. Some of these creative works were published for a little bit of scratch in oddball online publications or eBook compilations, but definitely not enough to sustain even a young adult. It was suggested by my teachers and peers that I turn to academics and write scholarly works for a university and perhaps teach. I wasn’t necessarily against this idea, but I had never envisioned myself as a teacher, so—because of money—I turned back to journalism, more-specifically freelancing.

Anywhere where I could make a buck…I did. I wrote about the ‘Best Places to Knit in Seattle’ (I know…weird, right?), Yoga studio reviews, and edited financial blog posts for banks. I would write anything, as long as it was paying. I wasn’t fulfilled by any means, but at least I was making money, and—in retrospect—it led me to some of the better jobs that I have had in my life. Inevitably, I developed a large body of niche work and met some folks who would pay me and let me write about my other hobbies in a professional capacity. My first big break was working for The Examiner. It is a shame that it is now defunct, but for a shining moment it was a fun place to work and I met a lot of great people with whom I still share a bond with to this day.

I was finally writing full-time about comic books: doing review and preview work, covering the newest television adaptations and films, traveling for comic book conventions, and interviewing artists, colorists, and writers. I had a blast and I probably would have kept with it if The Examiner hadn't folded and my personal life had taken me in a different direction. Eventually though, the writing dissipated and turned to a day job, I got married, had a son, and became a stay-at-home dad, which leads us to the “What and Why.”

The What and Why

After several years of not writing consistently, I finally want to write consistently, again. Not only do I want to, but I need to—the passion has been bubbling to the surface for quite a while now. Prior, I always provided myself with excuses: I don’t have time to set aside every week, I don’t think I have anything useful to say, my skills are atrophied, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I’m not sure if that creativity has finally bubbled over or if there is a yet unrecognized catalyst, but I do know that this is something that I have to do. I need to write regularly. And—like they say—write what you know, so I am going back to my roots with comic books, except this time I am going to be able to write about what I want to write about when I want to do it, as opposed to having an editor nix an idea or such heavy handed rewrites that the original piece is nigh unrecognizable.

I envision “Crisis on Infinite Comics” to be a sort of comic book hub for people. You can come to your inbox to read reviews or previews of stuff that you might have missed-out on, have disagreements about a particular character or story arc, make recommendations, and—in general—just come along for the ride and let the whole thing organically grow.

Want a “Crisis on Infinite Comics” podcast? Let’s do it! Want to expand to cover more topics, change up the posting days, or increase/decrease the number of posts based-off of the discussions? Let’s do that, too. I want to grow in a way that makes sense, I want people to have fun and share in a hobby, and I want people to just have a moment to think of something other than the hard stuff that everyone has to deal with in their real lives.

Crisis on Infinite Comics

The Who and the What and Why

The Inaugural Newsletter

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