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- NARRATOR: We're so
used to seeing Marvel and DC
dominate our pop culture
2
00:00:04,504 --> 00:00:06,174
that we forget there was time
when this wasn't always the
case.
3
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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00:00:18,935 --> 00:00:21,435
many remained divided by
which publisher had their
allegiance,
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00:00:21,438 --> 00:00:23,228
DC or Marvel.
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00:00:23,231 --> 00:00:24,821
- Who do you think would win
in a fist fight?
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00:00:26,651 --> 00:00:29,451
- 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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00:00:34,284 --> 00:00:34,994
- [softly] I'm Batman
13
00:00:36,369 --> 00:00:36,789
- NARRATOR: ...while
wearing tights.
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00:00:37,954 --> 00:00:42,004
♪
15
00:00:44,669 --> 00:00:47,459
Tom Fagan was a
huge comic book fan.
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00:00:47,464 --> 00:00:49,724
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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00:00:51,593 --> 00:00:54,513
He'd get people to dress up
as Spider-Man, and Joker, and
Doctor Doom,
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00:00:54,512 --> 00:00:56,142
and put them
all on floats.
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00:00:56,139 --> 00:00:59,269
- To have a parade
that celebrated superheroes
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00:00:59,267 --> 00:01:02,097
and allowed adults, of all
people, to dress up as them--
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00:01:02,103 --> 00:01:03,813
That was unheard of.
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00:01:03,813 --> 00:01:06,153
- I can't imagine that the
people in Rutland, Vermont
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00:01:06,149 --> 00:01:09,439
were less than bewildered
by what was going on.
25
00:01:09,444 --> 00:01:12,664
A low-scale comic book
Woodstock. [chuckles]
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00:01:12,655 --> 00:01:14,815
- NARRATOR: Tom was
always the grand marshal of the
parade.
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00:01:14,824 --> 00:01:16,284
- [knocking on door]
- Yeah.
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00:01:18,244 --> 00:01:19,584
- 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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00:01:29,672 --> 00:01:33,472
- In 1969, my wife Jean
and I went up there...
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00:01:33,468 --> 00:01:35,388
and we wore the costumes--
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00:01:35,386 --> 00:01:37,306
I was Spider-Man and
she was Invisible Girl.
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00:01:37,305 --> 00:01:39,345
We just all had
a good time.
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00:01:39,349 --> 00:01:43,019
And so I decided to write a
story that was set at the
Rutland Parade.
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00:01:43,019 --> 00:01:45,059
I wrote Tom Fagan in.
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00:01:45,063 --> 00:01:48,153
The only problem was Tom
Fagan was always wearing a
Batman costume.
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00:01:48,149 --> 00:01:50,489
- NARRATOR: Since Roy
worked for Marvel...
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00:01:50,485 --> 00:01:54,695
Tom's customary Batman
costume would have ruffled DC's
feathers.
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00:01:54,697 --> 00:01:58,487
So he got around the
problem by making Tom into
Nighthawk.
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00:01:58,493 --> 00:02:00,953
[gasps]
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00:02:00,954 --> 00:02:02,544
- NARRATOR: Now
that Tom's superfandom
42
00:02:02,539 --> 00:02:05,419
had made it all the way
to the pages of the comics
themselves,
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00:02:05,416 --> 00:02:08,956
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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00:02:11,673 --> 00:02:13,633
and have a good time
and party together.
46
00:02:13,633 --> 00:02:16,683
It sort of became
legendary on that fact.
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00:02:16,678 --> 00:02:19,098
- Over the next couple of years,
just, more people started
coming.
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00:02:19,097 --> 00:02:20,387
Plus, a number of professionals.
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00:02:22,016 --> 00:02:25,056
- ENGLEHART: One day, a
couple of people from Marvel ad
DC
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00:02:25,061 --> 00:02:27,441
decided to go up there
and see this thing.
51
00:02:27,438 --> 00:02:29,068
- There was division, you know.
52
00:02:29,065 --> 00:02:31,315
You were either a Marvel writer
or a DC writer.
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00:02:31,317 --> 00:02:32,897
But we all
partied together.
54
00:02:32,902 --> 00:02:35,162
We all hung out together.
We were all friends.
55
00:02:35,155 --> 00:02:37,905
We were driving up in Steve
Englehart's car and halfway
up...
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00:02:37,907 --> 00:02:40,077
- [mimicking metallic scraping]
57
00:02:40,076 --> 00:02:41,036
- CONWAY: ...the
muffler fell off.
58
00:02:41,035 --> 00:02:43,115
Which did not bode well
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00:02:43,121 --> 00:02:46,791
when we were actually
fairly high on mescaline.
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00:02:46,791 --> 00:02:49,131
It was a continuous
party. [laughs]
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00:02:49,127 --> 00:02:51,167
I mean, there was a lot of
drinking, there was a lot of
partying,
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00:02:51,171 --> 00:02:53,631
there was a lot of
illegal substances.
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00:02:53,631 --> 00:02:56,381
- ENGLEHART: I
distinctly remember how weird t
was.
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00:02:56,384 --> 00:02:58,554
We went out to some
mansion that Fagan--
65
00:02:58,553 --> 00:03:01,183
Either he lived in
or he had rented for a party.
66
00:03:01,181 --> 00:03:04,101
And everybody
was in a costume.
67
00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:07,100
- STARLIN: Late into
the night, the beer kept
coming.
68
00:03:07,103 --> 00:03:10,483
Somebody, unfortunately,
found a bottle at one
point...
69
00:03:10,481 --> 00:03:12,611
that turned out to be urine.
70
00:03:12,609 --> 00:03:15,449
- We were just saying, you know,
"This was such a weird
experience.
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00:03:15,445 --> 00:03:17,815
We have to find some way
to memorialize it.
72
00:03:17,822 --> 00:03:19,782
And wouldn't it be cool?"
73
00:03:19,782 --> 00:03:23,452
And most of the dangerous things
that happen in comics start
with...
74
00:03:23,453 --> 00:03:24,543
"Wouldn't it be cool?"
75
00:03:24,537 --> 00:03:27,917
♪
76
00:03:27,916 --> 00:03:31,666
"Wouldn't it be cool if we
did a story that involved the
three of us
77
00:03:31,669 --> 00:03:34,799
across three different
books published by two differet
companies?"
78
00:03:34,797 --> 00:03:37,627
- Jerry wrote for Marvel
but Len wrote for DC.
79
00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:39,434
But we said, "We can do this."
80
00:03:39,427 --> 00:03:42,057
And so we worked out this plot.
81
00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:45,675
Me and Gerry and Len
and Glynis in the car with no
muffler...
82
00:03:45,683 --> 00:03:47,733
[clanking, scraping]
83
00:03:47,727 --> 00:03:49,847
...wandering through
the background.
84
00:03:49,854 --> 00:03:52,194
- NARRATOR: They
came up with a secret plan fora
continuous story line
85
00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:55,820
that would crossover
between both Marvel and DC
titles.
86
00:03:55,818 --> 00:03:58,778
Starting with The
Beast at Marvel, continuing
in Marvel's Mighty Thor,
87
00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:01,120
and then wrapping up
in DC's Justice League.
88
00:04:01,115 --> 00:04:02,865
Without the greenlight
from their bosses,
89
00:04:02,867 --> 00:04:04,827
the writers and artists
were taking a huge chance
90
00:04:04,827 --> 00:04:07,327
trying to sneak these stories
throughout the three books.
91
00:04:07,330 --> 00:04:10,380
- We didn't ell our
editors. [laughs]
92
00:04:10,375 --> 00:04:12,835
- If you'd gotten the company
sued-- That would not have been
a good thing.
93
00:04:12,835 --> 00:04:15,915
- THOMAS: They just barely
somehow managed to do it...
94
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
96
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,180
were able to trace their
adventures across the books.
97
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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00:04:27,892 --> 00:04:31,602
that fans got to see a
crossover between these iconic
characters.
100
00:04:31,604 --> 00:04:35,444
- There was a float that
had Superman, Batman,
Spider-Man--
101
00:04:35,441 --> 00:04:37,281
And, you know, Thor.
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00:04:37,277 --> 00:04:39,737
- LE CLEAR: There's a
battle between Batman and
Spider-Man.
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00:04:39,737 --> 00:04:41,777
And Spider-Man
and Green Lantern.
104
00:04:41,781 --> 00:04:44,581
But you can see it's not
really-- It's just a guy in a
Halloween costume.
105
00:04:46,077 --> 00:04:49,287
One of the things that made
these parties so successful
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00:04:49,289 --> 00:04:51,249
is how welcome
everyone felt.
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00:04:51,249 --> 00:04:53,459
You walked into a world
where you could clearly see
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00:04:53,459 --> 00:04:56,339
that everyone felt the same
kind of passion as you did.
109
00:04:56,337 --> 00:04:59,007
- One year, Tom actually had
a Nighthawk costume made.
110
00:04:59,007 --> 00:05:01,427
And he wore that instead
of the Batman costume.
111
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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00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,850
that his enthusiasm spread to
not only the people of
Rutland...
114
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.
116
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,900
Marvel and DC were
in fact rivals.
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00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:20,900
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.
119
00:05:24,115 --> 00:05:26,365
But just as Marvel got
used to being on top...
120
00:05:26,367 --> 00:05:28,327
their foundations
started to crack,
121
00:05:28,328 --> 00:05:30,828
and a legendary partnership
would fall apart.
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00:05:30,830 --> 00:05:32,000
- You're gonna love
this one, Stan.
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00:05:31,998 --> 00:05:34,038
♪
10197
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