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 Death of John Lennon

A 1984 Green Arrow comic book narrative contained a flashback sequence similar to the murder of the former Beatle, while the DC superhero attempts to stem the flow of guns in the present.

Green Arrow: Peruvian Tomb Raiders

Green Arrow teams up with Catwoman to retrieve artifacts illegally smuggled out of Peru in a narrative that parallels the looting of a Peruvian archeological site in Sipán during the late 1980s.

Spectra: The Original Laser Superhero

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the first laser in 2010, the American Physical Society created a new comic book superhero to help educate kids about physics and lasers.

Green Arrow: Salvadoran Sanctuary

During the early 1980s, Oliver Queen becomes part of the real-world Sanctuary Movement when political refugees from El Salvador are threatened with deportation by the U.S. government.

Namor: The Santa Barbara Oil Spill

In conjunction with the first Earth Day and one year after an environmental disaster struck off the coast of California, the king of Atlantis warned surface-dwellers against polluting the oceans.

Batman: Paul Is Dead

Four months after a Detroit DJ used hidden clues on a Beatles album to reveal the secret death of Paul McCartney, Batman attempted to solve a similar mystery involving British band the Twists.

Green Arrow: The Homeless of Seattle

Green Arrow interacted with many of Seattle’s homeless during writer Mike Grell’s classic comic book series, and acts as a fictional counterpart to the actual homeless situation in the city.

Teaching with the Beatles

The rock band has found their way into colleges and universities around the world in classes not only about their music but their influence on the 1960s and the history of the decade as well.

Comics @ San Diego State University

After having amassed an impressive collection of comic books, graphic novels, and historical artifacts, SDSU is developing a groundbreaking program on comic books and social justice.

The Justice League of America Battles Pollution

In a DC comic published to coincided with the first Earth Day in April 1970, the Justice League of America encounter a burning river similar to the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland at the time.

Aurora History as Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy

The Aurora History Museum in Colorado teamed up with Pop Culture Classroom to create a Dungeons & Dragons adventure that blended factual history with the fantasy of the game.

Green Arrow: The Native American Movement

Green Arrow and his superhero counterpart Green Lantern assist a tribe of Native Americans involved in a lumber dispute in the Pacific Northwest that mirrored actual events in the region.