Hit Comics #21
Hit Comics #21 is part of the landmark BSV (Bildschriftenverlag) series that introduced Marvel Comics to German-speaking readers for the very first time, beginning in 1966. As an anthology reprint vehicle, it brought together concurrent mid-Silver Age stories — most likely featuring Die Spinne (Spider-Man), Halk (the Hulk), and Devil-Man (Daredevil) — under one cover, meaning German readers in 1967 encountered these characters in a compressed, cross-title format quite unlike the American monthly experience. The series as a whole represents the earliest licensed presence of Marvel's Silver Age universe on European soil, making each issue a document of how that mythology first crossed language and cultural boundaries. The appearance of characters such as Aleksei Sytsevich (the Rhino), Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborn in this issue's indexed cast suggests it drew on Amazing Spider-Man material from roughly issue #41 onward — stories that introduced several now-central figures to Peter Parker's world — giving German audiences their first encounter with those characters.
In "Das Nashorn ist frei," the escaped rhinoceros villain, furious after his kidnapping scheme against John Jameson was thwarted by Spider-Man, turns his rage toward the web-slinger in a high-stakes chase through the city. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by John Romita, this 1967 issue delivers a tense, action-packed tale that ramps up the stakes for the wall-crawler. The cover, also by John Romita, captures the moment of confrontation with intensity and flair.
In "Das Nashorn ist frei," the escaped rhinoceros-like villain, Das Nashorn, turns his fury toward Spider-Man, seeking revenge for being thwarted in his attempt to kidnap John Jameson. With the city on edge and the web-slinger on high alert, a tense game of cat and mouse unfolds—where every shadow could hide a charge, and every alley a trap.
In "Sie wohnen in den Tiefen [Teil 3]," the Hulk is dragged into the hidden realm of Tyrannus, a once-mighty ruler now weakened and desperate. With the Mole Man in control of the Fountain of Youth and Rick, Betty, and Glenn held captive, Tyrannus pleads for the Jade Giant’s aid—only to be interrupted by a sudden assault from the Mole Man’s Octo-Sapien robot. The battle erupts in chaos, leading to a shocking plunge into the fountain that changes everything.
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The Hit Comics series was launched in September 1966 by the Bildschriftenverlag (BSV) of Aachen, Germany, which had been publishing licensed Dell and Gold Key material since the late 1950s before securing Marvel reprint rights. The series ran for 153 issues and presented Marvel stories in a non-chronological, anthology format, printing content in black-and-white interiors with a color cover — a cost-driven production choice typical of early European comic imports of the era. BSV was acquired by National Periodical Publications (later DC's parent) in 1966, and the operation eventually transitioned into the Williams Verlag imprint in the early 1970s; the Hit Comics imprint thus straddles the BSV and Williams corporate identities. Translation and lettering were handled in-house, with early issues using typewritten lettering rather than professional hand-lettering, a detail that became something of a period marker among German collectors.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Hit Comics was the first German-language publication to carry licensed Marvel Comics content, debuting in September 1966 from the Bildschriftenverlag (BSV) of Aachen.
- The series ran 153 issues total and served as an omnibus anthology, mixing Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel features within a single issue rather than dedicating each issue to one character.
- Interior pages were printed in black-and-white throughout the early run, with only the cover in color — a standard cost-saving measure for European reprint publications of the mid-1960s.
- The character index for issue #21 includes Aleksei Sytsevich (the Rhino), Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson, indicating the Spider-Man content was drawn from Amazing Spider-Man material from approximately issue #41 onward (1966), when those characters were newly introduced.
- Daredevil-cast characters (Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page) are also indexed, confirming a concurrent Daredevil reprint strand — consistent with the series' practice of pairing Spider-Man stories with secondary Marvel features.
- The Hulk is listed under the German name 'Halk,' a deliberate localization (not a mistranslation) used throughout the BSV/Williams run; similarly, the Rhino appears as 'Nashorn' (German for rhinoceros) and the Mole Man as 'Der Maulwurf' (the mole).
- BSV was acquired by National Periodical Publications in 1966 and the imprint later transitioned into Williams Verlag after Warner Bros. bought DC/National in the early 1970s — meaning Hit Comics #21 was produced during the early phase of that corporate ownership.
- The early Hit Comics issues used typewritten lettering rather than hand-lettered balloon text, a production detail that distinguishes BSV-era issues from the later Williams Verlag editions.
Cast · 22 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Tales to Astonish #80 (1966), The Amazing Spider-Man #43 (1966)
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