Rutland Halloween Parade

The Rutland Halloween Parade is an annual event held on (or around) Halloween in the city of Rutland, Vermont, since 1960. The parade has a strong superhero theme and has been the setting for a number of fictional comic book adventures. Local officials maintain that it is one of the largest and longest running Halloween parades in the United States.[1]

History

Tom Fagan (1932–2008), a local writer and comic book fan, is credited with having a hand in the parade's early development and superhero theme. The parade began as an annual tradition in 1959; Fagan had letters and text pieces promoting the parade published in a number of DC and Marvel titles, including DC's Detective Comics #327 (May 1964) and Marvel's Avengers #88 (May 1971).[2] According to a 2006 Boston Globe article, "in 1965 ... the Joker, Plastic Man, and Dr. Strange were roaming the streets of Rutland, along with Batman (presumably Fagan, but like Bruce Wayne, the Caped Crusader wouldn't divulge his identity). More comic book heroes appeared every year. ... "[1] According to a 2008 Comics Buyer's Guide obituary of Fagan ... "5,000 spectators watched the 11th annual parade in 1970, with marchers who included the Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Medusa, Wasp, Quicksilver, Vision, Captain America, and Havok. Riding on a float were Thor and Sif, along with the Norn Queen. The Red Skull hitched a ride on the float for no known thematic reason. ... Also present were Nighthawk, Batman, and Captain Marvel — and probably a few other DC heroes that Fagan was discreet enough not to mention. The parade kicked off, he noted, with the familiar cry of 'Avengers Assemble!' and ended on the same note.'[2]

Appearances in comics

In the 1970s, the Rutland Halloween Parade achieved a degree of fame when it was used as the setting of a number of superhero comic books, in titles published by industry rivals DC Comics and Marvel Comics. The first appearance of the parade was in Avengers #83, published by Marvel with a cover-date of December 1970; this was followed by DC's Batman #237, with a cover-date of December 1971.

Tom Fagan appeared as a character in a number of stories, usually depicted as an acquaintance of the title characters. Due to the nature of the masquerade parade, these issues often saw people dressed as Marvel heroes appearing in DC publications, and vice versa, marking some of the first (unofficial) intercompany crossovers in comics.[2] Caution was exercised, however, over widespread use of the competition's characters — Fagan (who in real life typically hosted the parade dressed as Batman), was usually drawn as Nighthawk in Marvel-published Rutland Halloween stories.[3]

In the fall of 1972, writers Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway

External links

• Skellies