Action Comics strong sales and follow up investigations revealed that Superman was the reason, thus the character returned to the covers, becoming a permanent presence in issue 19 onward. Originally, "Action Comics" was an anthology title featuring a number of other stories in addition to the Superman story. Zatara, a magician, was one of the other characters who had his own stories in early issues. There was the hero Tex Thompson, who eventually became Mr. America and later the Americommando. Vigilante enjoyed a lengthy run in this series. Sometimes stories of a more humorous nature were included, such as those of Hayfoot
Action Man (comics) featured some similar plot elements. The final story to be printed in the comic was titled "Island of Terror!" and was written by Simon Frith, with art by John Ross. Panini Comics obtained the Marvel UK licence in 1995 and Marvel UK had previously published an Action Force comic. Then, in 1996, the first issue of Action Man was published with the Marvel logo on the cover however, this was later removed after a few years. The comic ended in 2006 to be replaced by a spin-off, "Action Man: A.T.O.M." comic. "A.T.O.M." had also replaced the "Action Man" toy line