Hit Comics #3

History

BSV (Bildschriftenverlag), operating out of Aachen, launched the Hit Comics line in 1966 as West Germany's first dedicated Marvel reprint programme, translating and republishing Amazing Spider-Man stories under the title 'Die Spinne' (The Spider). The publisher had become affiliated with DC/National that same year, yet secured the Marvel Spider-Man licence, producing full-colour German-language editions printed domestically. The series ran continuously from 1966 to 1973, after which the imprint was reorganised and eventually renamed Williams Verlag following Warner Communications' acquisition of DC. Credits in early issues of the line were sometimes misattributed — for instance, the original letterer's name was listed under a printing credit rather than a lettering credit — reflecting the informal production norms of European reprint publishing at the time.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Hit Comics was the first ongoing series to publish Spider-Man ('Die Spinne') stories in the German language, with the series launching in September 1966.
• Hit Comics #3 is part of the initial BSV-Williams run that systematically introduced Marvel's core Spider-Man supporting cast — including Betty Brant, Liz Allan, Ned Leeds, Frederick Foswell, Flash Thompson, J.J. Jameson, Aunt May ('Tante May'), and Anna Watson — to German-speaking readers for the first time.
• Betty Brant and Liz Allan (by name) both first appeared in the original American source material in Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September 1963), written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko.
• Anna Watson, aunt of Mary Jane Watson and friend of Aunt May, first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964), also by Lee and Ditko; her presence in Hit Comics #3's character index indicates the reprinted source issue post-dates ASM #15.
• The BSV-Williams publisher was originally founded as Verlag Internationale Klassiker, later renamed Bildschriftenverlag, and became part of DC/National in 1966 before being renamed Williams Verlag in 1972.
• The Hit Comics line ran from 1966 to 1973, after which a separate dedicated Spider-Man reprint series titled 'Die Spinne' launched in 1974, continuing the German-language Marvel tradition.
• Early issues of the Hit Comics line are known to exist in two slightly different trim sizes, a documented production variation among German collectors.
• The series title 'Die Spinne' (The Spider) was the consistent German translation used for Spider-Man throughout the BSV-Williams era, appearing on both the Hit Comics issues and the later standalone Die Spinne series.

Cast · 10 characters

Full credits