In Peter Parker Spider-Man #18, Peter moves in with Randy Robertson.

In last issue, Peter Parker Spider-Man #23, a new villain named Typeface is introduced. Not much is given about his background except the fact that he used to be in the army and has a wife and a kid. Whether or not they are still a family remains to be seen. Typeface's costume is basically a pair of army boots and pants, and letters of various sizes painted on his face; most notably a large "R" on his forehead, which stands for "retribution". Oh yeah, he's got no shirt and is very skinny too.

Both Peter and Randy appear to have trouble sleeping and are experiencing very strange dreams. As a result, Peter ends up missing a meeting with Mister Whipple, an art gallery director, where he's planning to expose some of his work the next night at 7 o'clock.

Peter makes a fool out of himself (again) when he meets a guy in a bar, whom he thinks is a widower but who is in fact gay. He is saved the embarrassement of apologizing to him and facing Randy, Gloria Grant and Jill Stacy, who are there too, when he sees a newscast on TV about Typeface causing mayhem in Times Square. Excusing himself, he switches to his Spider-Man gear and makes his way to Times Square. There he encounters Typeface, whom he tries to capture but the latter proves to be more of a challenge than he had thought. In a moment of carelessness, Spider-Man is rendered semi-conscious by Scrabble letters spelling the word "SLEEP". While in this state, Spidey hears Typeface brag about his evil plan, which is to come to fruition the next night at 7h00 pm, coincidently the same time that Peter's gallery exposition is taking place.

Later that night, back at his apartment, Peter is sound asleep, having again a series of weird dreams, when he suddenly awakes and finds himself shackled to his bed, surrounded by little grey aliens. This is where this issue picks up.

ACT 1: Having trouble conversing with Peter, the aliens bring in their human attorney, a man named Tad Macnair. MacNair introduces himself and then asks Peter to sign a legal waiver holding his client blameless for the occurrence he was just subjected to. Peter reluctantly accepts and McNair starts to explain to Peter that the aliens were conducting some rather illegal experiments on him and Randy and that as a result, some kind of hybrid creature was created and has escaped, and is now wreaking havoc in New York City. McNair goes on explaining that, according to "BRLL'NAH>ZHHK<" Law, Peter is responsible for maintaining the integrity of his own DNA and thus must help them return the hybrid, or else face justice. McNair also informs Peter that the hybrid is pregnant and that it must be returned to the little grey aliens before it reproduces. McNair adds that the hybrid is expected to give birth at 7h00 pm that night, therefore, it must be brought back to the aliens before then or else all hell is going to break loose. Again, coincidently, this is the exact time that Peter's gallery opening is taking place and also the time at which Typeface's evil plan is coming to fruition. The aliens give Peter a small device that will allow him to teleport the hybrid back to the aliens once he finds it.

ACT 2: The story switches to Typeface who is busy ironing his pants back in his lair. He reminisces about events of his past; fragments of his former existence. He was once Gordon Thomas, a soldier in the Vietnam War. He was wounded during the war and brought back to the US where he was given a job as a sign smith. He became very good at it but one day, his employer decided he was no longer useful to the company so he was laid off. He lied to his employer, saying that he understood why they had to fire him but he had one thing on his mind: vengeance.

ACT 3: Peter has switched to his Spider-Man costume and is searching the City for the alien hybrid, tracking it using the small device given by the aliens. While looking for the creature, he calls up Robbie Robertson at the Daily Bugle to see if Robby has found something about Typeface. Robbie informs Peter that all the signs destroyed by Typeface in Times Square were manufactured by the same company: Ace Signworks Inc. Robbie gives Peter the address and tells him that he'll be at his gallery showing that night. After hanging up with Robbie, Peter/Spider-Man continues his search for the alien hybrid. Finally, the device picks up the creature's signature and leads our hero into a dark alley where he comes face to face with the creature: a giant multi-limbed spider-like monster.

ACT 4: The story switches once again to Typeface, who has captured his ex-boss and has him surrounded by dozens of letter-blocks rigged up with explosives. Typeface's vengeance-speech however is interrupted when Spider-Man shows up, unwillingly accompanied by the alien hybrid. The creature manages to trap Spider-Man in his web, while Typeface watches from the bleachers. Spidey begs Typeface to help him. Resilient at first – after all, it's not his fight – Typeface recalls some of his days in the Vietnam War, by means of flashbacks, and somehow he realizes that he is simply not cut out at being a bad guy. He cuts Spider-Man free from the webbing trapping him and the two join forces to defeat the creature by teleporting it back – just as it starts to give birth to its offspring – to the aliens using the device given to Spider-Man by said aliens. Spidey and Typeface part ways amicably; Typeface telling Spidey that he will remove the letter bombs and that "A" will stand for "Assurance" from now on. Spidey webslings away, while Typeface searches for the remote control for the bombs, which he seems to have lost. Nearby, we find his ex-boss on the phone with someone, telling that person that his sign factory was the victim of a terrorist attack and that the building was levelled by an explosion. He adds that he, the person on the other end of the phone, should call the insurance company…and also the cops. As he says that, he holds up Typeface's bomb remote control, which he stole from the latter, and he presses down on the ignition button. Behind him, the sign factory bursts into flames, presumably killing Typeface in the process (the latter was last seen in the building, searching for his remote control). And another insurance scam takes place.

ACT 5: Peter finally arrives at his gallery opening, a half-hour late, and of course, all his potential costumers have already left. However, Mr. Whipple, the art gallery director, informs him that he did manage to sell one of his piece; a picture of Uncle Ben. Peter asks if the buyer left a contact number to which Mr. Whipple replies that the buyer wished to remain anonymous. As Peter wonders who the buyer might be, we see Aunt May walking home, smiling and holding the picture of Ben in her hands. As she walks by a TV shop, all the televisions in the window are showing the newscast of the explosion at the sign factory. The news anchor mentions that the investigation into the explosion continues and that the police are still searching for Gordon Thomas, a.k.a. Typeface.