Die Spinne is the historic German name of Spider-Man. The character appears in Germany as early as 1966 in the Hit Comics collection of the Bildschriftenverlag (BSV). The Die Spinne series proper then appears at Williams, a Hamburg publisher founded in October 1973 under the aegis of the Warner group, from January 1974 to November 1978, for 100 issues. In 1979, the license passes to Condor, which publishes issues, albums and above all paperbacks gathering about five American episodes, with often abridged text. The value of these editions is not computed like that of the American originals: they are translated reprints, with no first appearance. It depends on the publisher, the format, the condition and the completeness, and is measured on the German secondhand market, not on American price guides.
In many German attics sit stacks of issues marked Die Spinne, bought at newsstands in the 1970s or early 1980s. Their owners, or their heirs, sooner or later ask the same question: what are they worth? The honest answer begins with a precise identification, because three successive publishers put out Spider-Man in Germany during this period, in very different formats.
This article is designed for that audience: those looking to "Comic Wert ermitteln," to estimate their German comics, without knowing the American market. It gives no price figures, because no reliable, dated source publishes any for these editions. It does give the method for identifying what you hold in your hands, and the criteria that raise or lower the value.
Before Williams: Hit Comics and the Bildschriftenverlag
American superheroes arrive in West Germany through a publisher from Aachen, the Bildschriftenverlag, abbreviated BSV. Founded in Hamburg in 1956, it had made a name with a collection of illustrated classics and published series under license from American publishers. From 1966, its Hit Comics collection presents Marvel characters to the German public for the first time, under translated names that make us smile today: Die Spinne for Spider-Man, Der Eiserne for Iron Man, Halk for Hulk, Devil-Man for Daredevil, X-Männer for the X-Men.
The same year, the BSV is bought by the American publisher that would become DC, itself later absorbed by the Warner group. This detail explains a curiosity of German history: for several years, Marvel's heroes are published there by a company belonging to the group that owns its main competitor. In 1971, Warner decides to publish in Europe under a single brand, Williams. BSV issues then carry the mention of a Williams department, then, in October 1973, an independent Williams house is founded in Hamburg. The BSV is dissolved in 1974.
For a collector, this BSV phase is the oldest and the least homogeneous. The Hit Comics issues mix several characters, and Spider-Man's presence there is intermittent. If you own issues prior to 1974 carrying the BSV logo, you are looking at the very first traces of Spider-Man in German.
Williams, 1974-1978: the 100 issues of Die Spinne
Die Spinne, Williams editions
This is the series most German collectors mean when they talk about Die Spinne. For nearly five years, it publishes in translation Spider-Man's American adventures, at newsstand pace. The series stops at issue 100, in November 1978, at the end of the license with this publisher.
The nature of these issues must be well understood. They are translated reprints of episodes already published in the United States a few years earlier. An issue of Die Spinne is therefore never a character's first appearance, even if it reprints the American episode where that character debuted. The American market reserves its top prices for the original editions; foreign editions form a parallel market, driven by local nostalgia.
This parallel market is not negligible. The German readers who discovered Spider-Man in these issues now have the age and the means to buy back the issues of their childhood. Demand exists, but it is geographically concentrated: it is measured in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, almost nowhere else.
Condor, from 1979: the reign of the paperback
Die Spinne, Condor editions
In 1979, the license passes to Condor, a Hamburg house founded in 1973. Condor publishes Spider-Man under the retained title Die Spinne, alongside other Marvel series: Die Rächer for the Avengers, Der mächtige Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Die Fantastischen Vier, Die Gruppe X then Die neuen X-Men for the X-Men.
The pocket format is Condor's great specificity. Shrinking American pages to the size of a paperback forces tightening the text: the translators, among them Michael Nagula, often cut the dialogue heavily. For a reader, it is an impoverished version. For a collector, it is on the contrary a signature: these paperbacks are recognizable at a glance, and they have an identity of their own that the issues do not.
Condor also produced "Maxi Pockets": two unsold paperbacks, bound together under a new cover, in volumes of about 320 pages. Some even combined two different series, for example a Hulk paperback and a Thor paperback under a shared title. These volumes are a way of recycling unsold stock, which complicates their identification: their content does not always match their title.
Finally, Condor published its issues and albums most often without advertising, apart from announcements for its own products. It is a practical clue for telling a Condor issue from a Williams one, whose newsstand layout followed other conventions.
Identifying what you have: the method
Look at the masthead
In small print, inside the cover or on the last page, appear the publisher's name, the city and often the year. Hit Comics and the BSV mention designate the pre-1974 period; Williams the 1974-1978 period; Condor the period opened in 1979.
Measure the format
A newsstand issue, an album, a paperback and a 320-page Maxi Pocket are not sold to the same audience. Note the format before any price search.
Record the number
For the Williams series, the number from 1 to 100 is enough to place the issue. For Condor, note the exact title and volume number, because several collections coexisted.
Identify the American content
Spot which original episode is translated. It is not a question of direct value, but some episodes highly sought in the United States make their translation more in demand.
Assess condition honestly
Cover, spine, corners, yellowed pages, cutouts, writing. On 1970s newsstand paper, condition accounts for the largest part of the gap between two copies.
What makes a Die Spinne valuable
Without putting forward figures, we can describe the relative hierarchy these editions follow, like most foreign editions of American comics.
A series' first issue. Issue 1 of the Williams series is the most in-demand object, for the same reason as everywhere: it opens the collection, it was often read, damaged or thrown away more than the others, and it serves as a draw for anyone wanting to start. The first issues of a Condor collection play a comparable role, on a smaller scale.
The complete collection. A closed series of 100 issues, assembled in uniformly good condition, is generally worth more than the sum of its issues sold individually, because it spares the buyer years of searching. If you are a few issues away from the complete series, it may be wise to complete it before selling.
The translated content. An issue that reprints a famous American episode, for example the death of a major character or the first meeting with a great adversary, attracts more. It is not a first appearance, but it is often the first time that story was read in German, and the nostalgia audience remembers it.
The condition. Copies that have gone through fifty years without a crease or tear are rare, because these issues were reading objects, traded in schoolyards. A copy in very fine condition stands clearly apart from the lot. Conversely, an issue that is cut up, annotated or incomplete loses most of its collecting interest.
The format. On the market, newsstand issues are generally more sought after than paperbacks, whose text was abridged. Maxi Pockets, born of recycling unsold stock, are the least prized, except for collectors who specifically seek completeness of Condor formats.
How to get an idea of the price
Since no reliable, dated price guide is published for these editions, the only serious method is to observe actually completed sales on the German secondhand market, comparing copies of the same publisher, same number and comparable condition. Asking prices are not sale prices: only the amounts actually paid count. Our general method for estimating the value of a specific comic applies here step by step, and the free estimate tool helps structure the approach.
Three mistakes come up constantly. The first is to apply to a German issue the price of the original American episode: the two objects have nothing to do with each other. The second is to confuse publishers, and to estimate a Condor paperback like a Williams issue. The third is to overestimate the condition of your own copies, a natural reflex when it comes to childhood memories.
One last remark on certification. Having a foreign issue certified by a service like CGC is possible for certain formats, but the cost of the operation often exceeds the price gap it can produce on these editions. Reserve it, if it is feasible, for exceptional copies of the most in-demand issues.
The European cousins
Germany is not an isolated case. Every major European country has had its historic Spider-Man publisher or publishers, with their own formats and numbering. Our article on the Semic editions of the 1980s and 1990s covers a neighboring case in the Nordic and French world, and the one on Mexican Spider-Man editions shows how a local market can, conversely, interest American collectors. The logic is the same everywhere: a foreign edition is worth what its local audience is willing to pay, not what the original is worth.