Action Comics Each issue featured a two-page Superman serial, a feature which, according to an editorial in the first weekly issue, was intended as a homage to the Superman newspaper strips of the past. The final issue of the weekly was originally intended to feature a book-length encounter between Clark Kent and Hal Jordan by writer Neil Gaiman. While Gaiman's story primarily teamed up Green Lantern and Superman, it also featured other characters from "Action Comics Weekly", including the Blackhawks (in flashback), Deadman, and the Phantom Stranger. The story ran counter to DC editorial policy at the time as it portrayed Hal
Batman action figures of Batman action figures. These figures were only released in Japan in 2003, but DC Direct released the same figures in America in 2004. Later, another Japanese toy company, Takara, created a new line of Batman action figures under their long lived Microman Toyline, which was sold in the U.S. market in the 1970s under the name Micronauts. Featuring more articulation than the Yamato line, these figures also saw their American debut in 2004. In 2003, Mattel won the rights to produce Batman and other DC Comics character figures from Hasbro. Before losing control, Hasbro released its final sets of