Thanks, all, for your replies.
What turned black are shortcut tiles to webpages.
What I did to restore them to original look was select each black, saved the webpage as a favorite, unpinned the black, selected the favorite and pinned it back onto start.
Through the overnight, the renewed ones held on.
I do notice that the MSN News shortcut, which before presented changing updated photos, now is the standard, unchanging block white-on-red look.
I hope they don't start turning black again. What are the chances?
Lumia 920.