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.

 

Nellie Bly’s Race Around the World

In 1889, the Pittsburgh-bred female journalist embarked on a solo journey around the world to break the fictional record set by Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days.

Will Eisner Week

The legendary comic book creator left an indelible mark on the industry over the course of eight decades and is honored every March with events across the country and around the world.

The Lost Room

The 2006 SciFi Channel miniseries was created by three Carnegie Mellon University graduates who put a Pittsburgh-spin on the story of a mysterious motel room and its supernatural objects.

The Secret Life of Robots

Steel City artist Toby Atticus Fraley displayed his retro-style robots in various 1950s-inspired household settings during a spring 2014 exhibit at the SPACE Gallery in downtown Pittsburgh.

George Ferris and the 1893 Chicago Exposition

The Pittsburgh-based engineer constructed the world’s first Ferris wheel for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago as an American response to Alexandre Gustave Eiffel’s Tower of 1889.

Simon Pegg and Dawn of the Dead

The British actor not only created the cult classic Shaun of the Dead as homage but appeared as a zombie in George Romero’s Land of the Dead and even attended its 2005 premier in Pittsburgh.

The Walking Dead and the Steel City

The AMC drama was heavily influenced by filmmaker George Romero, features special effects courtesy of Greg Nicotero, and even once cast former Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward as a zombie.

DinoMite Days: Pittsburgh as Jurassic Park

In 2003, the Steel City was overrun by dinosaurs as part of an art exhibit sponsored by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History that highlighted the region’s past, present, and future.

Jim Shooter: The Trouble Shooter of Comics

The Pittsburgh native began his career as a writer for DC Comics at the age of fourteen and eventually rose to editor-in-chief of rival Marvel in the late 1970s, a position he held for nine years.

The Early Days of Buffy Fandom

In her book Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby?, Allyson Beatrice offers insights into the early years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom and the community that formed online.

Jackie Ormes and African American Comic Strips

The first African American female cartoonist was born in the Steel City and created two successful comic strips, Patty-Jo ’n’ Ginger and Torchy in Heartbeats, for the Pittsburgh Courier.

Matt Baker: A Golden Age Legend

One of the first African American comic book artists to find success in the medium was raised in Pittsburgh and made his mark during the 1940s and 50s while working at Iger Studios and St. John Publishing.