The appearance of HIP Comics in the Netherlands in 1966 seems to coincide with the introduction of Marvel Comics in several other European countries. It got me curious. How did this happen? Was there a publishing company that provided Marvel Comics to all of Europe?

It turns out that National Periodical Publications (NPP) was responsible for releasing the Marvel series in a significant part of Europe. NPP also published Detective Comics in America and later changed its name to DC (DC stands for Detective Comics).

In Europe, NPP started by releasing Illustrated Classics, which were published by subsidiaries like Bildschriften Verlag (BSV) in Germany and Classics Nederland in our country. Later on, they introduced other series, including superhero comics.

It's interesting to note that DC was responsible for introducing Marvel Comics in Europe. In America, they were fierce competitors at that time!

Some information about Silver Age Marvel Comics in other European countries:

Germany       - HIT Comics
Danmark
Sweden    
Finland
Noorwegen
Italy
England
France

Many countries discovered the superheroes years later.
- Hongary - 1989-now, after the fall of the Sovjet Union.
- Poland - 1990-now, thanks to the Swedish publisher who started a partnership.
- Griece - 1978-79, it is unknown if Marvel Comics appeared earlier.
- Russia - 2002, thanks to the Spider-Man movie.