WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Sensational Spider-Man: Self Improvement #1, by Peter David, Rick Leonardi, Victor Olazaba, Rachelle Rosenberg, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, Chris Sotomayor and Travis Lanham, on sale now.
In the 1980s, a fan by the name of Randy Schueller came up with the idea of Spider-Man donning a black suit. This idea would go on to inspire the costume Peter Parker received in Secret Wars, which subsequently evolved into the character of Venom.
However, in The Sensational Spider-Man: Self Improvement #1, Schueller's original untold story, as well as the costume, is finally brought to life.
In the aptly titled "Burn Job," Spidey's classic red-and-blue suit is singed beyond repair after a battle with Firebrand. Thankfully, though, the web-slinger is saved by Johnny Storm, who brings him back to the Baxter Building where Reed Richards gifts him with a stylish new black-and-red suit made of unstable molecules with built-in web-shooters.
The new suit certainly proves useful in Spider-Man's rematch with Firebrand, but the story ends with him returning it to Reed for fear of being perceived as "some sort of venomous evildoer" by swinging across the city in all black.