Hit Comics #23
Hit Comics #23 is a landmark in German comics history as one of the earliest issues to deliver Marvel's mid-1960s cosmic storytelling — specifically the Thor/Rigellian/Galactus saga by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby — to German-language readers under Bildschriftenverlag's BSV imprint. For German fans in 1967, it served as the first domestic encounter with characters such as Tana Nile and Recorder 211, cosmic creations who had debuted in the US only months earlier. Alongside this Thor material, the issue's Avengers content introduced German readers to the era's rotating Avengers roster — including Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch under their localized names Adlerauge, Quecksilber, and Die Rote Hexe — cementing BSV's Hit Comics as the definitive gateway for Silver Age Marvel in the German-speaking world.
In "Tödliche Fluten," Captain America, Adlerauge, and Die Rote Hexe face a desperate battle beneath the waves against Attuma, as the global sea level rises with terrifying speed. After Adlerauge defeats a mysterious beetle that infiltrated the Avengers' base, he must rescue his teammates, now imprisoned by the Atlantean warlord—just as the oceans threaten to swallow the world. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck with inks by Frankie Ray, the cover by Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Frank Giacoia captures the rising dread.
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BSV (Bildschriftenverlag GmbH), headquartered in Aachen, launched its Hit Comics anthology series in 1966 as its primary vehicle for translating and reprinting Marvel Silver Age material for German-speaking audiences. The publisher had been founded under the name Internationale Klassiker before rebranding, and by 1966 held licensing arrangements that brought both Marvel and DC content to West German readers. Hit Comics #23, published in 1967, appeared while the imprint was still in its formative years — prior to its later renaming as Williams Verlag in 1972 following Warner's acquisition of DC. The series' translators and editors, including figures such as Lutz Reinecke, Reiner Taubert, and Herbert Feuerstein, were responsible for adapting the American vernacular into period-appropriate German.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Bildschriftenverlag GmbH (BSV) in 1967 as part of the Hit Comics anthology series (1966 series), the primary German-language reprint vehicle for Marvel Silver Age comics.
- Contains German-translated reprints of Thor material from the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby cosmic arc (circa Thor #129–#134, 1966–1967 US), which introduced Rigellian characters Tana Nile and Recorder 211 into ongoing Thor continuity.
- Tana Nile — a Rigellian Colonizer who first appeared in Thor #129 (June 1966) — appears here in her German-language debut under her original name, as a key figure recruiting Thor against the threat of Galactus.
- Recorder 211, the Rigellian android sent to document Thor's exploits, appears alongside Thor; in US continuity this character became an emotionally complex supporting figure whose 'humanity' Thor later argued for before the Rigellian Grand Commissioner.
- The issue also contains Avengers material featuring the lineup of Captain America (Steve Rogers), Hawkeye (Clint Barton/Adlerauge), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff/Quecksilber), and the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff/Die Rote Hexe) — the reformed-villain roster that defined mid-1960s Avengers stories — alongside antagonists Attuma and Abner Jenkins (the Beetle/Käfer).
- German character aliases used throughout: Thor = Thor Odinsohn; Hawkeye = Adlerauge; Quicksilver = Quecksilber; Scarlet Witch = Die Rote Hexe; Beetle = Käfer — reflecting BSV's editorial practice of translating or adapting hero identities for domestic readers.
- BSV's Hit Comics #1 (1966) had already established the series as the first venue for German-language Spider-Man stories; by issue #23 the anthology was regularly cycling through the full Marvel Silver Age line, including Thor's cosmic expansion and the Avengers' rotating membership era.
- The publisher was later renamed Williams Verlag in 1972 after Warner Communications acquired DC, and the Hit Comics brand continued under that name — making the early BSV-branded issues (including #23) distinctly from the imprint's founding period.
Cast · 17 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Attuma hat drei der Rächer gefangen genommen und Adlerauge muss sie retten, nachdem er den Käfer besiegt hat, der in das Rächer Anwesen eingebrochen ist. Währenddessen kämpfen Captain America, Adlerauge und Die Rote Hexe in denen Tiefen des Ozeans einen verzweifelten Kampf gegen Attuma, während überall auf der Welt der Meeresspiegel schnell ansteigt...
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).