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.

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.

 

Pittsburgh and the Second Bone Wars

The Carnegie Museum competed against other museums during the early twentieth century in the hunt for dinosaur bones, resulting in the discovery of a new species named Diplodocus carnegii.

Star Brand and The Pitt

Within Marvel’s New Universe of the 1980s, Kenneth Connell receives the power of the Star Brand and inadvertently destroys his hometown of Pittsburgh, transforming it into The Pitt.

Pat DiCesare and the Pittsburgh Music Scene

The legendary concert promoter began his career in the 1950s and brought many of the biggest rock performers to the Steel City over the course of four decades, including the Beatles in 1964.

Steel City Time Machine

A Pittsburgh-based fan of Back to the Future fan refurbished a 1982 DeLorean into a replica of the film’s time traveling sports coupe and can often be seen patrolling the streets of city in it.

Dippy, the World’s Most Famous Dinosaur

Although a life-size statue and the original fossils of the dinosaur reside in Pittsburgh, skeletal replicas of the famed Diplodocus carnegii can also be found in museums around the world.

The Scientific Art of Charles R. Knight

A 2014 exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History featured original artwork created by the famed illustrator of dinosaurs and prehistoric life for a 1942 article in National Geographic.

The Lonesome Death of Jack Monroe

The life of the former masked crime fighter came to a tragic end in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 2005 Captain America: Winter Soldier comic book series written by Ed Brubaker.

Scalphunter: The Devil’s Pay

In a 1980 issue of Weird Western Tales, main character Scalphunter journeys to Pittsburgh in 1862 but has difficulty accepting the contradictions of life in the Steel City during the Civil War.

The Album Art of Mozelle Thompson

The Pittsburgh native was one of the first African American artists to forge a career illustrating classical album covers during the 1950s but remains largely unknown despite his achievements.

1960 World Science Fiction Convention

The 18th Worldcon, also known as Pittcon, was held in Pittsburgh during September 1960, featuring some of the greatest authors of the sci-fi medium and the debut of multiple fan clubs.

Comic-tanium: Material Science and Superheroes

Curator Suveen Mathaudhu discusses the joint exhibit between the ToonSeum and the Mineral, Metals and Materials Society, which explores real science through the science of comic books.

1975 Star Trektacular and Twelfth Night

The Steel City hosted a fan-organized Star Trek convention in December 1975 that coincided with the Shakespearean debut of Spock actor Leonard Nimoy at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.