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.

The Avengers: The Rise and Fall of McCarthyism

In 1971, the Avengers are called to testify before the Aliens Activities Committee, which shared similarities with U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “red scare” investigations during the 1950s.

Spider-Man: The My Lai Massacre

The tragic massacre during the Vietnam War is explored alongside Flash Thompson’s failed attempt keep a sacred temple from being bombed when he was drafted and sent to Vietnam.

The X-Men and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Magneto of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants threatens to detonate an atomic bomb in Santo Marco while Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev attempts to build a nuclear missile base in Cuba.

The Avengers and the Bay of Pigs

A CIA-trained group of Cuban exiles launch an invasion of their native island while the Avengers assemble to keep the Living Laser from turning the fictional Costa Verde into a dictatorship.

The Might Thor Joins the Peace Corps

Thor alter-ego Donald Blake travels to the war-torn nation of San Diablo as a volunteer doctor to help the sick, similar to the tens-of-thousands of young Americans who joined the Peace Corps.

Wyatt Wingfoot: The Fish-In Protests

Wyatt Wingfoot invites the Fantastic Four to his Oklahoma reservation for help against the Miracle Man while Native Americans fought for fishing rights in the real world state of Washington.

Herbert Hoover: Picture Life of a Great American

In 1928, Edward Anthony of the Herbert Hoover presidential campaign came up with the idea of creating a comic strip depicting the life of the candidate and distributed it to voters nationwide.

The Story of Harry S. Truman

The Democratic National Committee released a comic book that told the life story of President Harry Truman as part the 1948 presidential campaign that possibly impacted the election results.

Robin: Case of the Kidnapped Crusader

Tom Carson, a consumer advocate within the DC Comics Universe similar to Ralph Nader in the real world, visits Hudson State University and is rescued from a kidnapping attempt by Robin.

The Incredible Hulk and the University of Wisconsin

The Hulk became enraged at protesters at Desert State University in 1970 while real-world students protested napalm manufacturer Dow Chemical at the University of Wisconsin in 1967.

Iron Man and the First Earth Day

In conjunction with the first Earth Day in April 1970, Tony Stark tells a group of businessmen the story of how Iron Man and Namor prevented an environmental disaster on Meridian Island.

Reacting to the Past

A new approach to teaching by Mark Carnes at Barnard College in 1996 led to a collection of historically-based role-playing games being used in college classrooms across the country.

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