Rutland's Halloween Parade and the comics world

Marvel has been publishing comics since it was founded in 1939, and you’ve probably heard of some of its most famous characters, like Captain America, Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, and plenty of others. The stories of these characters were created by teams of writers and artists, often working off of outlines and story beats conceived of by Marvel editor Stan Lee.

Individual comic characters often headlined their own series of comic books, where they’d go off on their own adventure for that issue. In 1960, DC comics, Marvel’s rival publisher, decided to bring together a bunch of their popular characters in a team it called The Justice League, launching its own series. Those comics sold well, and Marvel decided to adopt the same idea. It brought some of its existing heroes together for a team called The Avengers. Since then, team-ups have been an enduring trope in the world of comic books: who doesn’t love to see their favorite heroes working side by side? 

These comics have been the basis for a massive superhero film franchise called the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and you might be thinking: much of the action takes place in New York City or in far-flung places around the world. What does this have to do with Vermont? 

That’s where these two items that we hold in the Leahy Library come in: The Avengers issue 83 from 1970 and 119 from 1973, which are set in the Green Mountain State, specifically in Rutland. 

While these comics might have featured fantastical adventures around the Earth and beyond, the fans of the comics were everywhere, including in Vermont. There was one fan from the Rutland area named Tom Fagen, who was a huge fan of the comics from both Marvel and DC comics. 

For years, Rutland had gotten into the Halloween spirit, and in 1960, the City of Rutland’s recreation department decided to put together a Halloween parade, which included bands and marchers dressed in costume. It was a huge success, and Fagen approached a friend at the rec department to suggest that a big comic book character like Batman would make for a bigger draw. In 1961, Batman made an appearance in that year’s parade. 

Fagen was heavily involved in comics fandom, and began writing letters to fanzines and to the letter columns published in the comics about the event. He also wrote to one of Marvel’s in-house writers, Roy Thomas, whom he’d met at a convention, and invited him to the parade. Thomas and some of his fellow writers made the trip up to Rutland for the 1964 parade. 

Batman and comics hit their stride in the 1960s, and the Rutland Halloween parade continued to grow each year, with a whole host of comic book characters taking part. In 1970 and the 10th anniversary of the parade, the story turned full circle: Thomas decided to include the Rutland Halloween Parade in one of his upcoming comics, Avengers 83. This wasn’t an advertisement for the parade: the event was part of the story itself. The story revolves around a supervillain who is plotting his revenge against the avengers team, who happen to be in Rutland for the parade. A fight ensues, and just as he’s about the beat the avengers, an all-female team of superheroes called the liberators shows up to save them.

Rutland and the Halloween parade showed up in a handful of other Marvel and DC comics over the years, and Fagen himself showed up as a character in a couple of issues. The city’s most recent appearance was in the DC comic Superboy and the Ravers #16 in 1997. Fagen was a fixture in the parade for decades, but eventually stepped back and handed over the reins to others int he mid-2000s. He died in 2008, just days before that year’s parade. In 2023, Rutland unveiled a monument honoring the legacy of the parade, featuring Fagen shaking Batman’s hand.