After a major editorial shuffle at Marvel in 2000 left him without assignments, Stern began writing for European publisher Egmont, for whom he produced scripts for "Fantomen" ("The Phantom"), and Panini UK, for whose "Marvel Rampage" magazine he wrote Spider-Man and Hulk stories. Stern and Busiek co-wrote the "Darkman vs. Army of Darkness" limited series which was drawn by artist James Fry and published by Dynamite Entertainment. In 2007, Stern wrote an issue of "The All-New Atom" and reunited with Byrne to produce a five-issue story arc for "JLA Classified" for DC in 2008.