TYPEFACE

Real Name: Gordon "Geordie" Thomas

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Vigilante;
    former soldier, signsmith, terrorist

Group Membership: None; formerly Anti-Registration Underground (Battlestar, Canasta, Dahntu, Freeware, Gladiatrix, Green Guardswoman, Harbormaster, Johnny Justice, Kruzado, Lawman, Masked Rose, Natural, Network/Valerie Martin, Qiblah, Scorecard, Skybolt, Staten Island Star, Tosser, U.S. Annie, Warbug, Zapster, others)

Affiliations: Black Crow, Coldblood-7, Sally Floyd, Lectronn, Lightbright, Living Mummy, Prodigy (Ritchie Gilmore), Prowler (Hobie Brown), "Secret Avengers" (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Asp (Cleo Nefertiti), Black Mamba, Black Panther/T'Challa, Luke Cage, Cloak/Tyrone Johnson, Dagger/Tandy Bowen, Daredevil/Daniel Rand, Diamondback/Rachel Leighton, Falcon/Sam Wilson, Hawkeye/Kate Bishop, Hercules, Hulkling, Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman, Patriot/Elijah Bradley, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew, Storm, Wiccan), Shroud, Speedball (Robert Baldwin)

Enemies: Arana, Blizzard (Donnie Gill), Doc Samson, George Finch, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mr. Fantastic, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond), Penny-Ante Brigade, Sabra, Sentry (Robert Reynolds), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), SHIELD, SpellCheck, "Spider-Hybrid", Stature (Cassandra Lang), Thunderbolts (Bullseye, Fixer/Norbert Ebersol, Lady Deathstrike, MACH-4, Radioactive Man/Chen Lu, Songbird, Venom/MacDonald Gargan, Taskmaster), Tigra, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Wonder Man (Simon Williams);
    formerly Spider-Man

Known Relatives: Joseph "Joey" Thomas (brother, deceased), unidentified ex-wife and son

Aliases: Geordie, "Shakespeare, "Sesame Street Pete", "Captain A-Face"

Place of Birth: Northampton, Massachusetts

Base of Operations: An abandoned warehouse in Manhattan;
    formerly a hideout somewhere in New York City

Education: B.S. at University of Massachusetts

First Appearance: Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#23 (November, 2000)

Powers/Abilities: Typeface is a highly skilled, military-trained combatant, with particular expertise in explosives and melee combat. He is remarkably strong and agile, for his age. He also wields a number of letter-themed weapons, including edged and bludgeoning weapons shaped like giant letters, bombs shaped like letter blocks, and knockout gas-emitting Scrabble tiles. In addition, Typeface is extremely well-read, and possesses a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

History:

(Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#24 - (fb)) - Private Gordon Thomas fought in a war overseas alongside his brother Joey, and was with him when he was killed in action. Upon returning to the United States, Thomas' wife abandoned him, taking their son with her. Now an outcast, Thomas became a signsmith. He found solace in his work for years, until his employer, Ace Signs, was acquired by George Finch. Thomas was deemed non-essential and laid off. By now mentally ill, Thomas swore vengeance on those who had wronged him - both Finch and the "purveyors of poisonous rhetoric" that infested the world. To this end, he became Typeface, and committed several acts of vandalism across the city.

(Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#23) - While listening to one of his own rants on tape, Thomas prepared his Typeface gear. With grease pencil, he drew a random series of letters on his own face, finally emblazoning his forehead with a big red R - for retribution. He it the streets of the city, and approached a gang of thugs in a dark alleyway. Mistaking their leader for a fellow 'man of letters' due to the 'e' on his shirt, Typeface implored them to join him on his quest. When they tried to rob him, Typeface beat them up and took one thug's pants as the spoils of war. Later that night, he launched an all-out assault on Times Square, blowing up many of the giant electronic billboards with his letter-block bombs. Spider-Man arrived on the scene shortly after - Typeface had no quarrel with him, and asked him to leave. Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man refused. The ensuing battle went poorly for the web-slinger - Typeface cut through his webs with a giant O, nearly disemboweled him with a barrage of razor-sharp A, and knocked him out with a gas-emitting handful of Scrabble tiles. As Typeface left the unconscious hero amid the burning signage, he swore that his 'time of reckoning' would be at seven p.m. the following night.

(Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#24) - As he ironed the purloined pants in his hideout, Typeface recounted his life story. He donned the pants and, in place of the R, drew an A on his forehead - for annihilation. He abducted George Finch, and rigged the Ace Signs building with larger versions of his letter-block bombs. As he held the bewildered Finch (who had no idea who Typeface was) at P-point on the rooftop of Ace Signs, Spider-Man burst onto the scene. Typeface was infuriated that Spider-Man had crossed him again - until he saw that Spider-Man was being pursued by the monstrous Brll'Nah >Zhhk< Spider-Hybrid. Typeface was initially disinclined to help Spider-Man combat the alien monster, but changed his mind after he flashed back to what the dying Joey had told him - "Just live, man." Typeface freed Spider-Man from the creature's webbing and joined him in battling it. He managed to distract it while Spider-Man jammed a teleporter into its back, sending it back to the aliens who had created it. Spider-Man left Typeface as an ally - but Typeface found, much to his dismay, that Finch and the remote for his bombs had disappeared. From several blocks away, Finch used the remote to detonate the bombs, obliterating Ace Signs, and Typeface with it...

(Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#24 - BTS) - The police blamed Typeface for the explosion.

(Spider-Man's Tangled Web#18) - Having somehow survived the explosion, Typeface became an urban vigilante. He waged a one-man war against the coinage-hating Penny-Ante Brigade, taking out three of their members in an alleyway with an onslaught of Scrabble-tile bombs. As he surveyed his handiwork, Typeface was accosted by a strange young man named Ben. Ben was inspired by Typeface's heroism, but thought that he needed 'syntactical assistance'. Typeface, wanting to remain solo, blew him off and fled. Later, Typeface ambushed another two members of the Penny-Ante Brigade, but was startled when Ben, now the costumed SpellCheck, once again offered his partnership. One of the Penny-Ante-ers ran away, but SpellCheck insisted on correcting Typeface's syntax before pursuing the criminal. Typeface brushed off SpellCheck again and chased the crook to the railyards, where he was mistaken for 'Captain A-Face' by a passing child. As he bemoaned his Z-grade status, SpellCheck followed him, this time threatening Typeface with the sharp point of the checkmark on his cowl. The frustrated Typeface took him out with a handful of Scrabble-bombs before resuming the chase. He found the Brigade member atop a train, and lifted a handful of bombs to take him out - but SpellCheck slapped them out of his hand, as they spelled 'B-O-K-B', instead of 'B-O-M-B'. As SpellCheck lectured him once more, Typeface hurled every weapon in his arsenal at him, finally shutting him up.

(Spider-Man's Tangled Web#18 - BTS) - Typeface took down the remaining member of the Penny-Ante Brigade and left SpellCheck hanging from a signpost, with a note reading "Please lock this lunatic up pronto! Compliments of your friendly neighborhood Typeface".

(Civil War: Battle Damage Report) - Regaining his sanity, Typeface joined with Battlestar to form the Anti-Registration Underground , an underground group composed of heroes opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act. In a few weeks, the group had accumulated over two dozen members.

(Civil War: Front Line#3/1) - He was present for their interview session with reporter Sally Floyd, even though his identity was known to the public and he was wanted by the authorities for the destruction of Ace Signs. When questioned about it by Floyd, he stated that he hadn't fought overseas for liberty so people back home could be denied it.

(Civil War: Front Line#4/1/Civil War: Front Line#4/3) - At a planning session at ARU headquarters, Typeface disagreed with Network's proposal that they search out Captain America's anti-reg heroes as a group, and suggested that acting as a group made them vulnerable. Before their argument could be resolved, a squad of SHIELD cape-killers, led by Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Wonder Man, stormed the meeting. Typeface barely had time to order Battlestar to send Floyd to safety before he, and most of the ARU, were captured.

(Civil War: Front Line#5/2) - Typeface and a number of other superhuman detainees, including Coldblood-7, Speedball, and the Living Mummy, were marched through a Negative Zone gateway. Typeface and Speedball tried to comfort Coldblood, who had fallen victim to the adverse effects of the transfer, but were dissuaded from doing so by the robotic guards. As they approached the prison, Typeface informed Baldwin that it was known as Negative Zone Prison Alpha - alias "Fantasy Island".

(Civil War I#6) - Typeface was among the prisoners freed from Fantasy Island by Hulkling (impersonating Henry Pym), and faced down the pro-reg heroes in front of the Ryker's Island Negative Zone gateway.

(Civil War I#7 - BTS) - Cloak transported Typeface and the rest of the battling heroes from the Negative Zone to New York City, in front of the Baxter Building, where their melee continued.

(Civil War: Front Line#10/1) - Typeface and Daredevil ended up battling the Thunderbolts in Times Square. Badly outmatched, Typeface fought valiantly until he was slammed into a bus by Venom. Ben Urich pronounced him dead on the scene.

(Civil War: Front Line#11) - Following Captain America's surrender, Typeface's body was taken away by paramedics.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Spider-Man/Deadpool#12) - Typeface hung out at an underground casino in New York City.

Comments: Created by Paul Jenkins, Mark Buckingham, Dan Green, and Rodney Ramos.

Typeface received entries in the Spider-Man Encyclopedia, the All-New OHotMU A-Z #11, and Civil War: Battle Damage Report.  Not bad for a crazy shirtless guy with an alphabet obsession.

While never explicitly mentioned, the war Typeface fought in was probably Vietnam, as Gordon Thomas was referred to as a 'baby-killer' upon returning home.  As Typeface is supposed to be fifty-ish, the sliding timescale won't be a huge problem for another decade or so, at which point it'll be 'unspecified military conflict' - you know, the one Frank Castle and Flash Thompson fought in.  See The Vietnam War in the Marvel Universe.

Yeah, you read that right - Typeface kicked Spider-Man's butt in his first appearance!  Admittedly, at the time Spider-Man was becoming the Green Goblin whenever he slept and experiencing hallucinations due to the combination of mind-altering toothpaste and aliens taking his DNA (I swear I'm not making that up), but a win's a win, especially when you're an old shirtless guy tossing exploding letter blocks around.

The A remained on Typeface's forehead in all his post-PP:SM appearances.  Guess he liked the way it looked.

Typeface's speech patterns change dramatically between appearances - in PP:SM, he's highly literate, and tends to speak in goofy Shakespeare-ese.  But in his Tangled Web issue, he speaks in a bizarre combination of rhyming couplets, common slang, and bad letter puns ("How the might-E have fallen"), and then by Civil War, he's back to normal.  You can probably chalk that up to the brain damage he incurred in the destruction of Ace Signs. 

Typeface was also mentioned in Spider-Man's Tangled Web#12, in a story which took place years before Thomas became Typeface.  Uh, pretend that never happened.  And yes, I know that's the wrong Venom killing Typeface.  Someone forgot he ain't Eddie Brock anymore.

An alternate-universe incarnation was murdered by the cult Circle of Eight in the Avengers Alliance game.
--LV