Anthony Letizia

Anthony Letizia has been many things through the years, including an accountant, journalist, and playwright. From June 2014 to May 2019, he served on the board – as well as treasurer – of the ToonSeum, a nonprofit museum of the cartoon and comic arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While there, Letizia curated two exhibits, “To Boldly Go: The Graphic Art of Star Trek” (October 2016 to January 2017) and “Popology: An Exhibit of Pop Culture and Comics” (September 2017 to November 2017), as well as co-curated “Wonder Woman: Visions” (November 2017 to February 2018).

After a decades-long hiatus, Anthony Letizia completed his M.A. in History at Duquesne University in December 2024. He has used his history background to make a number of presentations in recent years on the ways that popular culture intersects with the real world. The list includes: “Superheroes Battle Pollution on the First Earth Day” poster presentation as part of the Comics Arts Conference at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024; “DC Comics and August 1986” at the Popular Culture Association Conference in Chicago in March 2024; and “Green Arrow as Social Justice Warrior” as part of the Comics Arts Conference at WonderCon in Anaheim in March 2023. He also organized/moderated a panel at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle in August 2022 entitled “A Green Arrow History of Seattle” and made a brief “Marvel Comics History of the 1960s” presentation at the virtual Popular Culture Association conference in April 2022.

In addition to writing for Geek Frontiers and Remixing History, Letizia is working on a book that ties together the fictional narratives from the Marvel Comics Universe of the 1960s and the factual events of the decade, similar to the articles that serve as the backbone of Remixing History but in a longer and more detailed format.

Although still an accountant by day, at night Anthony Letizia is a strong proponent and true believer in the power of Geek Culture. He can be reached at anthony@geekfrontiers.com.

Miami Vice: The Contra War in Nicaragua

In 1986, journalist Ira Stone uncovers evidence of U.S. personnel fighting side-by-side with the Contras in Nicaragua and reaches out to Miami Vice Detective Sonny Crockett for protection.

Captain America and Altamont Speedway

Captain America confronts members of Satan’s Angels disrupting a music festival shortly after the Hells Angels stabbed a fan at the infamous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway.

The Fantastic Four and Apollo 11

The Fantastic Four foil a plot by the alien Kree to keep Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from landing on the Moon while millions across planet Earth are enraptured by the lunar mission.

The X-Men and Greenwich Village

During the early 1960s, Iceman and Beast from the X-Men were regular patrons of a coffeeshop in the famed New York City neighborhood, where they listened to Beat poets and quoted Bob Dylan.

Captain America: Punching American Nazis

While Captain America was punching Adolf Hitler on the cover of his self-named comic book, American gangsters were doing the same on the streets of New York City in the late 1930s.

Green Arrow: Fighting for Tenant Rights

During the 1980s, Oliver Queen and his superhero persona Green Arrow fought for tenant rights in the fictional Star City, similar to movements in big cities across the United States at that time.

Batman: The Theft of the Mona Lisa

The famed painting was not only stolen from the Louvre in 1911 but in a DC Comics storyline featuring Batman in the present and Leonardo da Vinci’s inspiration being kidnapped in the past.

Spider-Man and Project Mercury

The amazing Spider-Man helps a crippled space capsule return safely to Earth while the real-world Mercury Seven astronauts wait for the opportunity to travel into the vast unknown.

Medusa: Fashion Model

British photographer David Bailey and model Jean Shrimpton changed the fashion industry during the 1960s, something the Inhuman Medusa learns as a model for Heavenly Hair Spray.

Mary Jane Watson: Go-Go Dancer

The self-proclaimed party girl and friend of Spider-Man alter ego Peter Parker dressed in the latest fashions during the 1960s and even briefly got a job as a go-go dancer in a local nightclub.

A Daredevil Tourist Guide to San Francisco

The Marvel Comics acrobatic superhero moved to San Francisco on two separate occasions, visiting tourist attractions like Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz Island, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Adventures in Learning with Indiana Jones

A South Carolina school teacher recognized the educational value of the early 1990s television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and developed a curriculum around the narratives.