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.

 

The Guild

Review of the six-season, groundbreaking comedy web series created by actress Felicia Day that revolves around a group of online gamers who struggle when it comes to living in the real world.

Poptastic! The Art of Burton Morris

The Senator John Heinz History Center honored one of Pittsburgh’s best known artistic talents with a 2013 exhibit that showcased Pop Art creations of both local and national significance.

The Buffy Sing-Along Phenomenon

Interactive screenings of the “Once More, With Feeling” musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer briefly swept the country over a three year period before ending due to licensing issues.

Birth of the Living Dead

The 2013 documentary examines the classic Pittsburgh zombie film Night of the Living Dead and contains many anecdotes from director George A. Romero regarding the production.

Night of the Living Dead: The Opera

Composer Todd Goodman discusses transforming George Romero’s classic 1968 zombie film into a contemporary opera that simultaneously appeals to both opera and horror fans alike.

Dodge Intrepid and the Pages of Time

A trio of Pittsburgh actors developed an old school radio drama featuring a 1940s time traveling librarian from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, with each episode of the series performed live onstage.

Welcome to Duckburgh

A 1987 episode of DuckTales hints that the fictitious hometown of Donald Duck is in the same locale as Pittsburgh, while the Steel City itself was visited by a giant Rubber Duck in 2013.

Steel City Ghostbusters

Members of the Pittsburgh fanclub have attended numerous conventions, parades, and charity events in the region, dressed as characters from the classic 1984 supernatural comedy since 2008.

Warehouse 13 and Joshua’s Trumpet

Federal Agents Pete Lattimer and Myka Bering visited Pittsburgh during the sci-fi television drama’s third season to recover a lost artifact responsible for numerous deaths in the Steel City.

Dungeons & Dragons as Improv Comedy

In 2013, Pittsburgh actor/writer Fred Betzner launched Knights of the Arcade, with improv comedy actors playing the popular role playing game Dungeons & Dragons live and onstage.

The Final Quantum Leap

In the series finale of the classic time-traveling television drama, Sam Beckett ends up in Cokeburg, Pennsylvania, in 1953, where he meets a bartender who is more than he seems.

Captain Kirk and Carnegie Mellon University

In preparation for their book I’m Working on That, actor William Shatner and Pittsburgh author Chip Walter visited Carnegie Mellon University to learn about robotics and virtual realities.