I always rather liked Warren's original pre-X-Men 'Avenging Angel' costume.

From civilians it was bad enough -- but I used to get this from fans!!

I must admit that looking at that picture of Angel, I would have said it was a blue with black shading rather than black with blue highlights.  Certainly the alternate costume would never strike me as black reflecting red.

There is far more blue in that costume than black.  Is that a bad example?  And how is one supposed to know that it's mean to be black reflecting blue rather than blue with black shading?

I understand the need to color it the way it was done back in the day, but those costumes just don't "read" to me as black

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I feel the same.  For me, it's the amount of blue that is used which determines how my eye views it.  If the Angel costume had been 90% black with small blue highlights, then my eye would certainly register it as black.  There is just too much blue in that example for me to see anything other than a blue costume with shadows.

Here comes the "Spider-Man is red and blue" debate
again…

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Technically speaking, it is. At least, it is now. For decades, the costume has been referred to as being red and blue within stories themselves. So that notion is something that's long since become a solidly established part of the character.

Now, is that what Ditko intended when he designed the suit? Probably not. But that's the way it stands today.

Personally, I really love the red and blue "look", but I think it would be really neat to see a live-action version of a red and black Spider-Man costume.