The Rutland Halloween Parade

Avengers #83 was the first of many comics to feature the Rutland Halloween Parade. It features cameos from Roy Thomas and his then wife Jean, dressed as Spider-man and Sue Richards, along with parade organiser, Tom Fagan.

Tom Fagan helped start the Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont in 1960. A big comic fan, he always ensured there was a superhero theme, usually dressing as Batman, or Marvel's Batman analogue, Nighthawk. The first comic it was mentioned in was Detective Comics #327, from 1964.

Fagan stayed at the Proctor-Clement house and would host big Halloween parties there. They were frequented by such comics luminaries as Roy & Jean Thomas, Gerry Conway, Len & Glynis Wein, Denny O'Neil, Marv Wolfman, Alan Weiss, Steve Englehart and more.



Nowadays, the house is a B&B, and even mentions its place in comic history on their website:

https://www.antiquemansionbb.com/mansions-vermont-history/

One of the best known stories featuring the Rutland Parade is Batman #237 - "Night of the Reaper." Dick Grayson's friends here are based on Bernie Wrightson, Gerry Conway & Alan Weiss. It also features cameos from Denny O'Neil & Len Wein.

For "Night of the Reaper," Neal Adams took inspiration for the mansion from a different building in Rutland. It's actually a church on West Street, but that image was subsequently copied in such books as DC Superstars #18 and Amazing Adventures #16, which are also set in Rutland.


Another well known Rutland story is the first (unofficial) Marvel/DC crossover, which I wrote about here.

Here's a list of all the times the Rutland Halloween Parade has appeared in DC and Marvel comics that I'm aware of - let me know if I've missed any.



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