Hit Comics #9
Hit Comics #9 brought two of the most consequential single issues of Marvel's Silver Age to German-speaking readers simultaneously in January 1967. The Spider-Man story — the German debut of Amazing Spider-Man #37 — delivered the first full, named appearance of Norman Osborn, the man whose shadow would define the entire Spider-Man mythology for decades, as well as the introduction of Mendel Stromm, whose backstory would seed multiple Green Goblin revelations. The Thor story, drawn from Thor #128, carried forward the Pluto–Hercules contract arc that established the Olympian pantheon as a permanent fixture of the Marvel Universe, weaving Greek mythology into the Norse-dominated Thor corner of Marvel's shared world. For West German readers in 1967, this single digest-sized package delivered story content that Americans had only read months earlier, making BSV–Williams a genuine pipeline for Marvel's Silver Age creative peak.
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BSV (Bildschriftenverlag), based in Aachen, was the West German publisher that held Marvel reprint rights and was part of the DC/National licensing umbrella from 1966 onward. Hit Comics was one of its anthology reprint series, packaging two Marvel features — typically a Spider-Man story and a Thor or other Marvel strip — in a single German-language issue. The translated credits follow Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for the Spider-Man portion and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (with Vince Colletta inks) for the Thor material; the German editorial team, which included translators working under Lutz Reinecke and Reiner Taubert among others, adapted the dialogue and sound effects into German throughout the run. The series ran from 1966 into the early 1970s before the publisher reorganized under the Williams Verlag name.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #37 (June 1966, Marvel) — written by Stan Lee, plotted and penciled by Steve Ditko — as the 'Die Spinne' feature.
- Amazing Spider-Man #37 contains the first full, named appearance of Norman Osborn (not yet revealed as the Green Goblin), identified by name with dialogue for the first time in this issue.
- The same Spider-Man story marks the first appearance of Professor Mendel Stromm (Robot Master), Norman Osborn's former business partner, whose backstory retroactively explains the origins of the Green Goblin formula.
- Supporting Spider-Man cast appearing in the reprinted story includes Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson, J. Jonah Jameson, and Frederick Foswell.
- Reprints Thor #128 (May 1966, Marvel) — 'The Power of Pluto!' — written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Vince Colletta — as the Thor feature, along with its 'Tales of Asgard' backup strip.
- Thor #128 continues the Pluto–Hercules storyline in which Pluto tricks Hercules into signing a binding Olympian contract, introducing the Olympian gods (Pluto, Hippolyta, Hercules) as a cross-pantheon threat alongside Thor and Balder.
- Published by BSV (Bildschriftenverlag), Aachen, as part of the Hit Comics anthology series, which packaged two Marvel features per issue for West German readers beginning in 1966.
- BSV held its Marvel reprint license within the DC/National publishing umbrella from 1966, making Hit Comics one of the earliest and most systematic conduits for Silver Age Marvel content reaching the German-language market.
Cast · 16 characters
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Als Professor Stromm aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wird, plant er sich an seinem ehemaligen Geschäftspartner Norman Osborn zu rächen.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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