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- NARRATOR: We're so
used to seeing Marvel and DC
dominate our pop culture
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00:00:04,504 --> 00:00:06,174
that we forget there was time
when this wasn't always the
case.
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00:00:09,092 --> 00:00:11,852
Not long ago, comic books
were thought of as kids'
stuff,
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00:00:11,845 --> 00:00:13,925
and anyone older than ten who
was still reading them was a
freak.
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00:00:16,099 --> 00:00:18,939
But even as older fans found
ways to meet and support each
other...
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many remained divided by
which publisher had their
allegiance,
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DC or Marvel.
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- Who do you think would win
in a fist fight?
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- NARRATOR: There was one fan
though, in the unlikeliest of
places,
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00:00:29,446 --> 00:00:33,116
who helped inspire a
clandestine collaboration to
unite Marvel and DC.
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00:00:33,116 --> 00:00:34,276
And this fan
did it all...
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- [softly] I'm Batman
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- NARRATOR: ...while
wearing tights.
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♪
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Tom Fagan was a
huge comic book fan.
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And every years he
threw a big superhero-themed
Halloween parade
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00:00:49,716 --> 00:00:51,586
in Rutland,
Vermont.
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He'd get people to dress up
as Spider-Man, and Joker, and
Doctor Doom,
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and put them
all on floats.
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- To have a parade
that celebrated superheroes
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and allowed adults, of all
people, to dress up as them--
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That was unheard of.
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- I can't imagine that the
people in Rutland, Vermont
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were less than bewildered
by what was going on.
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A low-scale comic book
Woodstock. [chuckles]
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- NARRATOR: Tom was
always the grand marshal of the
parade.
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- [knocking on door]
- Yeah.
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- Hey, Tom. All
ready when you are.
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- CONWAY: It may well be the
first real public appearance of
cosplay.
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- In 1969, my wife Jean
and I went up there...
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and we wore the costumes--
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I was Spider-Man and
she was Invisible Girl.
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We just all had
a good time.
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And so I decided to write a
story that was set at the
Rutland Parade.
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I wrote Tom Fagan in.
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The only problem was Tom
Fagan was always wearing a
Batman costume.
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- NARRATOR: Since Roy
worked for Marvel...
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Tom's customary Batman
costume would have ruffled DC's
feathers.
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So he got around the
problem by making Tom into
Nighthawk.
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[gasps]
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- NARRATOR: Now
that Tom's superfandom
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had made it all the way
to the pages of the comics
themselves,
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buzz about these
parties in Rutland began to
spread amongst the comic
creators.
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00:02:08,962 --> 00:02:11,672
- STARLIN: This
was just a chance for a bunch f
geeks to come out of the
closet
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and have a good time
and party together.
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It sort of became
legendary on that fact.
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- Over the next couple of years,
just, more people started
coming.
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Plus, a number of professionals.
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- ENGLEHART: One day, a
couple of people from Marvel ad
DC
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decided to go up there
and see this thing.
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- There was division, you know.
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You were either a Marvel writer
or a DC writer.
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But we all
partied together.
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We all hung out together.
We were all friends.
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We were driving up in Steve
Englehart's car and halfway
up...
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- [mimicking metallic scraping]
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- CONWAY: ...the
muffler fell off.
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Which did not bode well
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when we were actually
fairly high on mescaline.
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It was a continuous
party. [laughs]
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I mean, there was a lot of
drinking, there was a lot of
partying,
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there was a lot of
illegal substances.
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- ENGLEHART: I
distinctly remember how weird t
was.
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We went out to some
mansion that Fagan--
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Either he lived in
or he had rented for a party.
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And everybody
was in a costume.
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00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:07,100
- STARLIN: Late into
the night, the beer kept
coming.
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00:03:07,103 --> 00:03:10,483
Somebody, unfortunately,
found a bottle at one
point...
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that turned out to be urine.
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- We were just saying, you know,
"This was such a weird
experience.
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We have to find some way
to memorialize it.
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And wouldn't it be cool?"
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And most of the dangerous things
that happen in comics start
with...
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"Wouldn't it be cool?"
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♪
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00:03:27,916 --> 00:03:31,666
"Wouldn't it be cool if we
did a story that involved the
three of us
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across three different
books published by two differet
companies?"
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00:03:34,797 --> 00:03:37,627
- Jerry wrote for Marvel
but Len wrote for DC.
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But we said, "We can do this."
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And so we worked out this plot.
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Me and Gerry and Len
and Glynis in the car with no
muffler...
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[clanking, scraping]
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...wandering through
the background.
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- NARRATOR: They
came up with a secret plan fora
continuous story line
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that would crossover
between both Marvel and DC
titles.
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00:03:55,818 --> 00:03:58,778
Starting with The
Beast at Marvel, continuing
in Marvel's Mighty Thor,
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00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:01,120
and then wrapping up
in DC's Justice League.
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00:04:01,115 --> 00:04:02,865
Without the greenlight
from their bosses,
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00:04:02,867 --> 00:04:04,827
the writers and artists
were taking a huge chance
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00:04:04,827 --> 00:04:07,327
trying to sneak these stories
throughout the three books.
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00:04:07,330 --> 00:04:10,380
- We didn't ell our
editors. [laughs]
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- If you'd gotten the company
sued-- That would not have been
a good thing.
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- THOMAS: They just barely
somehow managed to do it...
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00:04:15,922 --> 00:04:19,302
so that DC didn't get too
offended, Marvel didn't get too
offended.
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00:04:19,300 --> 00:04:20,760
- NARRATOR: Only
the savviest readers
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00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,180
were able to trace their
adventures across the books.
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00:04:23,179 --> 00:04:25,599
It was kind of just an inside
joke for the writers and
artists.
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00:04:25,598 --> 00:04:27,888
But it was also
the first time ever
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that fans got to see a
crossover between these iconic
characters.
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- There was a float that
had Superman, Batman,
Spider-Man--
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And, you know, Thor.
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- LE CLEAR: There's a
battle between Batman and
Spider-Man.
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And Spider-Man
and Green Lantern.
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But you can see it's not
really-- It's just a guy in a
Halloween costume.
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One of the things that made
these parties so successful
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is how welcome
everyone felt.
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You walked into a world
where you could clearly see
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that everyone felt the same
kind of passion as you did.
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00:04:56,337 --> 00:04:59,007
- One year, Tom actually had
a Nighthawk costume made.
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And he wore that instead
of the Batman costume.
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00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:04,886
So it was life imitating art
imitating life, etc.
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00:05:04,887 --> 00:05:07,637
- NARRATOR: Tom's love of
superheroes was so pure and
true
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that his enthusiasm spread to
not only the people of
Rutland...
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00:05:10,852 --> 00:05:13,442
but also to the comic
book creators themselves.
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00:05:13,438 --> 00:05:15,438
But every party
comes to an end.
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Marvel and DC were
in fact rivals.
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And the next few years saw a
tug of war between the two
companies
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00:05:20,903 --> 00:05:24,123
until Marvel eventually
overtook DC in sales.
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00:05:24,115 --> 00:05:26,365
But just as Marvel got
used to being on top...
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00:05:26,367 --> 00:05:28,327
their foundations
started to crack,
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and a legendary partnership
would fall apart.
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- You're gonna love
this one, Stan.
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♪
10197
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