PREVIOUSLY: In Spectacular Spider-Man #235, Peter Parker is busy tying up loose ends and severing ties with Portland, as he and Mary Jane are moving back to New York. While doing so, he suddenly is hit by another wave of violent spasms, which have been recurring a lot as of late.

At the end of Spider-Man Volume 1 #70, Peter Parker passes out on the floor of his apartment, after rushing home to tell his wife, Mary Jane, about his exciting evening. As he is not breathing, MJ frantically dials 911.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #236, Peter is rushed to the hospital where doctors work hard to try and find what is wrong with him. But they are helpless, as his condition continues to deteriorate.

In Spider-Man Volume 1 #71, Dr. Connors tells Mary Jane that he doesn't think Peter will make it through the night. Ben Reilly shows up at the hospital and Peter asks him to take care of MJ and the baby should he not make it, which he now knows he probably won't; Ben gives his word that he will look after them. At issue's end, in the company of MJ and Ben, Peter tells MJ that he loves her, closes his eyes and passes away.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #237, Peter Parker ends up being not dead after all. He somehow goes through some sort of rebirth and unknowingly trashes his hospital room, alerting Mary Jane and Ben Reilly, who are mourning out in the hall. Needless to say, they are utterly shocked to find him alive and well.

Ecstatic about this great news, Ben goes out swinging as Spider-Man and runs into the Lizard, after being alerted of his presence along the waterfront. In the ensuing battle, the Lizard takes off towards the hospital where Peter is recovering. Ben follows him and the two of them continue their battle on the hospital rooftop. Inside the hospital, Peter Parker is visited by Dr. Curt Connors when they become aware of Ben and the Lizard fighting each other. Apparently frightened, Dr. Connors takes off without explanation. Wanting to find out if his spider-like powers have returned, Peter makes his way to the rooftop to help his "brother". Though he makes it to the rooftop and helps Ben to a certain extent, Peter is accidentally pushed off the ledge of the building and Ben is forced to abandon his battle with the Lizard to save him. At issue’s end, as they regain their strength, Peter informs Ben that the Lizard he was fighting was not Dr. Connors since he was just with him minutes earlier.

Dr. Curt Connors, having fled New York City in the previous issue, returns to his home in Florida. When he arrives at his house, he discovers a note from his wife telling him that his son, Billy, will be late from school and that she will be home at six o'clock. Minutes later, Billy arrives home and after greeting his dad, takes off with his buddies to the arcade. Connors heads to his lab, located behind his house, in a separate building. As he looks around his lab, his mind goes back to when he was serving his country as a medic for wounded soldiers and subsequently got hurt and lost his arm as a result of this injury. He recalls coming back home to his wife and son and diving into the world of reptiles, specifically their ability to regenerate missing limbs. And then he also recalls developing a formula and testing it on himself, resulting in his transformation into the Lizard.

Three nights ago in Fairfax Virginia, the new Lizard surfaced once again. A man named Sal and his wife Joan and kids, Joe, Mike and Tony, (obviously a tribute to artist Sal Buscema and his real-life wife and kids) witness the creature in their backyard.

It is late at night and Dr. Connors anxiously awaits the return of his son Billy, who is running exceedingly late. Connors is not in a good mood. As he stares out the window, looking out for his son, he recalls how months ago he took on a new lab assistant named Aldo to assist him in removing any last trace of the Lizard's evil persona from his physiology. Though the two of them managed to develop a formula, designed to neutralize the horrible effects of the original serum, the experiment was a failure. Connors had retreated to his house to rest, while Aldo had decided to stay behind to try a new theory he had come up with. Several hours later, a huge ruckus had Connors racing back to his lab, only to find Aldo several bloody and badly beaten. Aldo explained that, in his enthusiasm for his theory, and his desire to help him, he had applied their serum to his (Connors') DNA to a recovered segment severed from a lizard’s tail. Amazingly, the scaly specimen grew before Aldo's eyes, growing appendages, growing features, and growing in size. When Aldo looked in the eyes of the creature, it was as if the combination of the serum and the mutated genetic material created a creature devoid of anything but its own primal brutal instincts.

Earlier that day, at Barrenford Stables in rural Georgia, the owner of the ranch makes the gruesome discovery of one of his prize mares, brutally slain. Speaking to a TV reporter, he tells him that he caught a glimpse of the creature that killed his horse and it looked like some kind of big nasty lizard. In New York City, Ben Reilly watches said news report and realizes where this new Lizard is heading: Florida, home of Dr. Curt Connors. Ben storms out of his apartment and takes off towards the sunshine state.

When Billy Connors finally arrives home, his father is furious with him for arriving home so late. He starts to verbally lash out at him and even grabs one of his arms. Realizing what he is doing, he pulls back and starts to calm down. Suddenly, a loud noise is heard and the new Lizard comes crashing through the living room window. Connors grabs hold of his son and pulls him into the lab behind his house. The Lizard tries to break into the lab but thankfully, Spider-Man has arrived on the scene. Spidey aggressively attacks the new Lizard with all his might. A few back-to-back punches send the Lizard into thick bush where a loud cracking noise his heard. As Spidey goes to investigate, he comes face-to-face with the original Lizard, holding the new Lizard, who is now dead of a broken neck.

To be continued.