Hit Comics #5
Hit Comics #5 (November 1966) brought German-speaking readers the translated debut of three characters who would permanently reshape the Spider-Man mythology: Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Professor Miles Warren — all introduced in the same Stan Lee/Steve Ditko story from Amazing Spider-Man #31. Gwen would become Peter Parker's most consequential love interest, Harry the future second Green Goblin, and Warren the Clone Saga villain the Jackal, making their collective arrival one of the most consequential pages in the series' history. For German readers, this issue was part of the opening wave of Marvel Comics in their country, arriving just months after the series launched domestically in 1966, and it carried the additional distinction of being a black-and-white interior reprint at a time when color printing was still considered a luxury in that market.
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BSV (Bildschriftenverlag), which became part of the DC/National group in 1966 and was later renamed Williams Verlag in 1972, launched the Hit Comics line that same year as Germany's primary vehicle for Marvel reprints. The series ran 153 issues and covered a wide range of Marvel characters presented out of their original publication order, with interior pages printed in black and white and covers in color, and lettering produced on a typewriter rather than by a professional letterer. Hit Comics #5 reprinted Amazing Spider-Man #31 (cover-dated December 1965), a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko collaboration published in the United States just months earlier, meaning German readers received this story with only a brief delay relative to its American debut.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965), written by Stan Lee and drawn and co-plotted by Steve Ditko.
- First German-language appearance of Gwen Stacy, who debuted as a cold, somewhat aloof new college classmate of Peter Parker — notably without her signature headband, which did not appear until ASM #42.
- First German-language appearance of Harry Osborn, introduced as another of Peter's college classmates and later revealed to be the son of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin.
- First German-language appearance of Professor Miles Warren, introduced here as a university professor; he would later become the villain the Jackal, central to the Clone Saga.
- The issue is part of the inaugural 1966 launch of the Hit Comics line, through which Marvel material was first made available to German-speaking readers.
- Interior pages were printed in black and white — standard for early BSV Hit Comics — while only the cover was printed in color.
- The original American story also marks the first time the onomatopoeia 'Thwip' was used for Spider-Man's web-shooters.
- The underlying American issue (ASM #31) was later reprinted in German again as Die Spinne (BSV – Williams, 1974 series) #32, giving the story a second German life in a dedicated Spider-Man title.