The Rutland Halloween Parade is an annual event held on (or around)

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

in the city of

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont *Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The ...

, since 1960. The parade has a strong

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

theme and has been the setting for a number of fictional

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

adventures. Local officials maintain that it is one of the largest and longest running

parades in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

Tom Fagan (1932–2008), a local writer and

fan, is credited with having a hand in the parade's early development and

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 ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #327 (May 1964) and Marvel's ''

Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'' #88 (May 1971). According to a 2006 ''Boston Globe'' article, "in 1965 ... the Joker,

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero featured in American comic books first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Co ...

, and Dr. Strange were roaming the streets of Rutland, along with

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

(presumably Fagan, but like Bruce Wayne, the Caped Crusader wouldn't divulge his identity). More comic book heroes appeared every year. ... " According to a 2008 ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' obituary of Fagan ... The 2006 ''Boston Globe'' story explains that "... Fagan was friends with many comic book authors and artists, most of whom hailed from New York. Fagan persuaded some of them to take part in the Rutland Halloween Parade in comic book character costumes. Many creators stayed as guests at Fagan's 24-room mansion outside of Rutland, which has since become the Antique Mansion Bed & Breakfast. Comic book creators known to have attended the parade over the years include

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his other ho ...

Dennis O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

, Alan Weiss,

Wendy and Richard Pini Wendy Pini ( Fletcher; born June 4, 1951) and Richard Pini (born July 19, 1950) are the husband-and-wife team responsible for creating the well-known ''Elfquest'' series of Comic book, comics, graphic novels and prose works. They are also known ...

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler (character), Nightcrawler, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Colossus (character), Colos ...

, and

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

After Fagan

By the mid-2000s, Fagan was no longer directly involved in the planning of the parade. The popular event continued nonetheless, with Fagan and a close personal friend of the 'inner circle', attending as a guest in 2006 and 2007, sitting with the judges. Fagan planned to attend the parade in 2008, but died on October 21 of that year. An article eulogizing Fagan in the ''

Rutland Herald The ''Rutland Herald'', previously called the ''Rutland Daily Herald'', is the second largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont (after ''The Burlington Free Press''). It is published in Rutland with its source of news geared towards ...

'' stated, "Without Tom, there wouldn't be a Halloween parade in Rutland. ... That's his legacy." The parade celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.

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 DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The first appearance of the parade was in ''

'' #83, published by Marvel with a cover-date of December 1970; this was followed by DC's ''

'' #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 A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders (known as intercompany ...

in comics. 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 The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, which is a grouping of 92 species of medium-sized birds with long wings and short bills specialized for eating insects. The nighthawk's ...

in Marvel-published Rutland Halloween stories. In the fall of 1972, writers

, and

crafted a loose three-part story spanning titles from both companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, Wein, and Wein's wife Glynis interacting with Fagan and Marvel or DC characters. Beginning in ''Amazing Adventures'' #16 (by Englehart with art by

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

and Frank McLaughlin),

Beast Beast most often refers to: * Animal, a multicellular, eukaryotic organism in the biological kingdom Animalia * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation * Monster, a type of creature found in fiction, folklo ...

hitches a ride from Englehart, who is driving the Weins and Conway to Rutland. The story terminates after

Juggernaut A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. ''Juggernaut'' is the early rendering in English ...

attempts to steal Englehart's car. The action continues in ''Justice League of America'' #103 (by Wein,

Dick Dillin Richard Allen Dillin (December 17, 1928 – March 1, 1980)Richard Dillin
at the United States Social Securi ...

and

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

), with Batman and other Justice League members wind up leading the parade while attempting to capture

Felix Faust Felix Faust is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #10 (1962), created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. He is depicted as a mystic sorcerer, obse ...

. Faust steals Englehart's car, but is pulled over by the police. In the third part of the unofficial crossover, ''Thor'' #207 (by Conway,

John Buscema John Buscema ( ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, ; December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

, and

Vince Colletta Vincente Colletta (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991)Vincent Colletta

), the three comics creators (and one wife) again visit Fagan, during which Faust stealing Englehart's car is depicted for a second time. In the letters page of '' What If?'' #22 (August 1980), a reader asked, "Does Rutland, Vermont, annually become a nexus of realities similar to that existing in the swamp near Citrusville, Florida?". Marvel editor

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald ( ; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Career Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics f ...

, writing as the Watcher, responded, "While the nexus in Citrusville is a natural aperture, the nexus near Rutland is an artificial one that fluctuates in size and accessibility. For reasons that I have not investigated, it has not been opened in recent years."Gruenwald, Mark. "The Watcher Knows," ''What If?'' #22 (Marvel, Aug. 1980). In 1986, the parade again appeared in

WaRP Graphics WaRP Graphics, later Warp Graphics, is an alternative comics publisher best known for creating and being the original publisher of the ''Elfquest'' comic book series. It was created and incorporated in 1977 by Wendy and Richard Pini. The compan ...

' '' Thunderbunny'' #5. The town of Rutland was portrayed in DC's ''

Animal Man Animal Man (Bernhard "Buddy" Baker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily "borrow" t ...

'' #50 (1992), but not the Halloween parade itself. Most recently, the parade was featured in Marvel Comic's ''

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

'' #22 (1996) and ''

Superboy and the Ravers ''Superboy and the Ravers'' is an American comic book series that ran for 19 issues, from September 1996 to March 1998. The comic book chronicles the adventures of Superboy (Kon-El) and a group of superhumans called the Ravers. Plot Sparx arr ...

'' #16 (1997) from DC Comics.

Chronological list of appearances

''note'': Not all of these appearances feature the Halloween Parade. Some feature Tom Fagan and some simply the town of Rutland. * ''

'' #83 — "Come On In, The Revolution's Fine!" by

John Buscema John Buscema ( ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, ; December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

, and Tom Palmer (Marvel, Dec. 1970) * ''

'' #237 — "Night of the Reaper!" by

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

, and

(DC, Dec. 1971) * ''

Marvel Feature ''Marvel Feature'' was a comic book showcase series published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s. It was a tryout book, intended to test the popularity of characters and concepts being considered for their own series. The first volume led to the launc ...

'' #2 — "Nightmare on Bald Mountain!" by Roy Thomas,

Ross Andru Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...

, and

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...

(Marvel, Mar. 1972) * ''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

'' #206 — "Rebirth!" by

, John Buscema, and

Vince Colletta Vincente Colletta (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991)Vincent Colletta

(Marvel, Dec. 1972) * ''

Justice League of America The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived t ...

'' #103 — "A Stranger Walks among Us!" by

Dick Dillin Richard Allen Dillin (December 17, 1928 – March 1, 1980)Richard Dillin
at the United States Social Securi ...

, and Dick Giordano (DC, Dec. 1972) * ''

Amazing Adventures ''Amazing Adventures'' is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics. The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and h ...

'' #16 — "...And the Juggernaut Will Get You ... If You Don't Watch Out!" by

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

, and Frank McLaughlin (Marvel, Jan. 1973) * ''Thor'' #207 — "Firesword!" by Gerry Conway, John Buscema, and Vince Colletta (Marvel, Jan. 1973) * ''Avengers'' #119 — "Night of The Collector," by Steve Englehart, Bob Brown, and

Don Heck Donald L. HeckDonald L. Heck
at the Social Security Death Index. Retrieved on Septem ...

(Marvel, Jan. 1974) * ''Thor'' #232 — "Lo, the Raging Battle!" by Gerry Conway, John Buscema, Dick Giordano, and Terry Austin (Marvel, Feb. 1975) * '' Occult Files of Dr. Spektor'' #18 — "Masque Macabre," by Donald F. Glut and Jesse Santos ( Gold Key, Dec. 1975) * '' Freedom Fighters'' #6 — "Witching Hour for the Warrior Wizards!" by

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of '' 'Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis ...

Ramona Fradon Ramona Dom Fradon (; October 2, 1926 – February 24, 2024) was an American comics artist known for her work illustrating Aquaman and ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'', and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her career began in 1950 and lasted until ...

, and Bob Smith (DC, Jan./Feb. 1977) * ''Justice League of America'' #145 — "The Carnival of Souls!" by Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin (DC, Aug. 1977) * ''

DC Super Stars ''DC Super Stars'' was a comics anthology series published by DC Comics from March 1976 to February 1978. Starting off as a reprint title, it finished its run with original stories. Publication history The tagline "The Line of DC Super-Stars" wa ...

'' #18 — "The Gargoyles," by

Martin Pasko Martin Joseph "Marty" Pasko (born Jean-Claude Rochefort; August 4, 1954– May 10, 2020) was a Canadian comic book writer and television screenwriter. Pasko worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his superhero stories for DC Com ...

Romeo Tanghal Romeo Tanghal (born July 24, 1947) is a Filipino comics artist who has worked primarily as an inker. He became well known in the industry in the 1980s for his work on DC Comics' '' The New Teen Titans''. Career Romeo Tanghal was born and raised ...

, and Dick Giordano (DC, Jan./Feb. 1978) * ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' #95 — "All the Stage Is a Haunt," by

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

, Michael R. Adams, and

Tex Blaisdell Philip Eustice Blaisdell (March 30, 1920 – March 14, 1999), better known as Tex Blaisdell, was an American comic-strip artist and comic-book editor. He worked on 22 syndicated features, including ''Little Orphan Annie'', which he drew for fiv ...

(DC, Dec. 1980) * ''

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

'' #100 — by

J. M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

Don Perlin Donald David Perlin (; August 27, 1929 – May 14, 2024) was an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' ''Werewolf by Night'', ''Moon Knight'' (a character he co-created), '' The Defenders'', and ''Ghos ...

, and

Joe Sinnott Joseph Leonard Sinnott (; October 16, 1926 June 25, 2020) was an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four'', from 1965 to 1981 (and briefly in the la ...

(Marvel, Oct. 1981) * '' Thunderbunny'' #5 "Moonlight Miss," by Martin L. Greim and Brian Buniak (WaRP Graphics, Feb. 1986) * ''

'' #50 — "Journal of a Plague Year," by Tom Veitch and

Steve Dillon Steve Dillon (22 March 1962 – 22 October 2016) was a British comic book artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on ''Hellblazer'', ''Preacher (comics), Preacher'' and ''The Punisher''. Early life Dillon was born in London i ...

(DC, Aug. 1992) * ''

'' #22 — "All Hallows Eve," by

Scott Lobdell Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous X-Men series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans,'' ...

Chris Bachalo Chris Bachalo (; born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death (Sandman), Death series. C ...

, Al Vey, and Scott Hanna (Marvel, Dec. 1996) * ''

'' #16 — "Half-Life of the Party," by Steve Mattsson,

Karl Kesel Karl Kesel (; born January 7, 1959) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is known for his collaborations with fellow artist Tom Grummett on ' ...

, Josh Hood, and Dan Davis (DC, Dec. 1997)

References

External links

* * * *
Skellies
{{Halloween events, state=collapsed DC Comics locations Halloween events in the United States Marvel Comics locations Parades in the United States Vermont culture