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.

Green Arrow: The 2016 Presidential Election

Writer Benjamin Percy crafted a multi-year story arc for the Green Arrow Rebirth comic book series that included a mayoral election that mirrored the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

Drawn to Home

The Pittsburgh-created comic book told the story of nine local individuals who had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and complimented an earlier multimedia art exhibit.

Green Arrow: Conscientious Objectors

In a two-issue storyline from 1992, writer Mike Grell explores the military draft through the eyes of young conscientious objector whose father had been an antiwar activist during the 1960s.

Nikita Khrushchev: I Will Bury Iron-Man!

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev made occasional appearances within the pages of Marvel Comics during the 1960s, and even lobbed his famous “I will bury you” phrase against Iron Man.

Green Arrow: Racial Profiling

In 2016, writer Benjamin Percy tackled the subject of racial profiling in a multi-issue narrative of Green Arrow in which a floating machine with tentacles targets African Americans in Seattle.

The Mighty Thor and Hiroshima USA

The Cold War and threat of nuclear Armageddon made their way into Marvel Comics during the 1960s, as well as Collier’s magazine and its reporting of a fictitious nuclear attack on New York.

Green Arrow: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On March 24, 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez was making its way through Prince William Sound after having been fully loaded with crude oil...

The Hulk, Bruce Banner, and Robert Oppenheimer

Both Bruce Banner of the fictional Marvel Comics Universe and real-world physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer were suspected and investigated of being Soviet spies during the 1950s and 1960s.

Cosplay for Science Initiative

Since 2017, a group of professional scientists having been using cosplay to connect with fans of popular culture and show how real science relates to many of their favorite fictional universes.

Reading With Pictures

The nonprofit was founded in 2009 and published a series of education-oriented graphic novel textbooks, as well as becoming one the leading advocates for the use of comics in the classroom.

Pop Culture Classroom

The Denver-based non-profit has been using pop culture as an education tool since 2010, finding success with their Storytelling Through Comics curriculum and downloadable history comics.

Constance and Nano

As part of its efforts to attract grade school girls to careers in engineering and technology, the Society of Women Engineers collaborated on a comic book series with writer Kelly Thompson.