Reading guide · 1984–88
The black costume and Venom: reading order and where to read it
Everything you need to read The black costume and Venom: the issues in order, what it is about without spoilers, why it matters, and the books in print today.
The essentials are seven issues: Secret Wars #8 (1984), Amazing Spider-Man #252 and #258 (1984), Web of Spider-Man #1 (1985) and Amazing Spider-Man #298–300 (1988). For everything in between, get The Complete Black Costume Saga Omnibus; for Venom's debut, Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Venom.
- Published
- 1984–88
- Length
- 7 issues
- By
- Jim Shooter, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, among others
- Good for new readers?
- Yes. The key issues are self-contained. The full saga in between is long, but you can skip straight from 1985 to 1988.
- Start with
- Spider-Man: The Complete Black Costume Saga Omnibus
Reading order
In this order. The notes are spoiler-free.
| # | Read | Year | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secret Wars #8 | 1984 | On the Beyonder's Battleworld, Spider-Man's costume is torn up, and a strange machine gives him a sleek black one that responds to his thoughts. |
| 2 | Amazing Spider-Man #252 | 1984 | Spider-Man comes home in the black costume. It went on sale before Secret Wars #8, so readers saw the suit months before they learned where it came from. |
| 3 | Amazing Spider-Man #258 | 1984 | Reed Richards discovers the costume is alive and trying to bond with Peter for good, and Peter rejects it. |
| 4 | Web of Spider-Man #1 | 1985 | The costume comes back for Peter, and in a church bell tower it lets him go, seemingly giving its life to save him. |
| 5 | Amazing Spider-Man #298 | 1988 | The first appearance of Eddie Brock, the reporter whose career Spider-Man unknowingly ruined. |
| 6 | Amazing Spider-Man #299 | 1988 | Venom's first appearance, in a brief cameo. |
| 7 | Amazing Spider-Man #300 | 1988 | Venom's first full appearance: the costume has bonded with Eddie Brock, and both of them hate Spider-Man. Peter goes back to red and blue for good. |
What it's about
A new costume that makes its own webbing and changes shape at a thought seems like the best thing that has ever happened to Spider-Man, until he learns it is a living creature that wants him forever. Getting rid of it is the easy part. Four years later it comes back, joined to a man who blames Spider-Man for everything, and becomes one of his greatest enemies.
Why it matters
The black suit is one of the most famous costume changes in comics, and the story of the creature inside it gave Spider-Man Venom, the villain who went on to headline his own movies. Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023) both adapted this story.
Where to read it
The black costume years
Spider-Man: The Complete Black Costume Saga Omnibus
Collects: Amazing Spider-Man #252–263 and Annual #18; Marvel Team-Up #141–150 and Annual #7; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90–100 and Annual #4; Web of Spider-Man #1
Hardcover, 992 pages (2024). Everything from the suit's arrival to its apparent death.
Venom's debut
Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Venom
Collects: Amazing Spider-Man #295–310 and Annual #22; Web of Spider-Man #33; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #133
Paperback, 504 pages (2025 printing). Eddie Brock, Venom's first full story and the McFarlane era.
Where the suit comes from
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
Collects: Secret Wars #1–12 (1984–85)
Secret Wars #8 is not in the books above; it is in the collected Secret Wars, which has had several editions.
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Who would win?
The characters at the heart of this story, rated one-on-one under this site's fight rules.
- Spider-Man vs. VenomSpider-Man rogueSpider-Man 40%
- Black-suit Peter vs. VenomPeter Parker in the alien costumeBlack-suit Peter wins 47%
What to read before and after
Questions and answers
Where does Spider-Man get the black suit?
On Battleworld, in Secret Wars #8 (1984), when a machine he thinks is a costume maker gives him a black costume that responds to his thoughts. It turns out to be a living alien.
When does Venom first appear?
Venom appears in a brief cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #299 (1988) and in full in Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1988), by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. Eddie Brock first appears in #298.
Is the black suit Venom?
Yes. The living costume Spider-Man wore from 1984 later bonds with Eddie Brock, and together they become Venom.
All Spider-Man reading guides · The essential Spider-Man comics, in order