Editing Captain Action (section)

==In other media==
=== Comic books ===
==== DC Comics ====
[[National Periodical]] ([[DC Comics]]) licensed the character from Ideal and published five issues of ''Captain Action'' in 1968,<ref>{{cite book|authorlink= Paul Levitz|last=Levitz|first= Paul|title= 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking|publisher= [[Taschen|Taschen America]] |year=2010| isbn= 978-3-8365-1981-6|page= 420|quote= Captain Action was DC's first toy tie-in title.... Editor Mort Weisinger ... brought in his young firebrand Jim Shooter to craft an identity and back story for the character.}}</ref> illustrated at first by [[Wally Wood]], then by [[Gil Kane]]. The scripts were by a teenage [[Jim Shooter]] and [[Gil Kane]]. A 2006 interview with Shooter reveals the unpromising setup of the comic:

{{cquote|[Editor [[Mort Weisinger]]] called and asked if I'd like to create a new character. I said yes — then he said, "Okay, his name is Captain Action(?!). He has an Actionmobile, a kid sidekick named Action Boy(??!!), a pet Action Panther and a secret Action Headquarters(???!!!) and, by the way, he's also a G.I. Joe-sized action figure". He went on: "[[Superman]] must make an appearance in the first issue, because the cover was going to feature Captain Action pushing Superman aside to take on whatever menace I concocted". Sigh. Okay.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eury |first1=Michael |title=The Krypton Companion |date=2006 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781893905610 |page=74}}</ref>}}

The comic book storyline had little to do with the toy concept, as some of the heroes licensed for use as costumes for the Captain Action doll were not owned and published by DC ([[Spider-Man]] and [[Captain America]] for example, were [[Marvel Comics]] characters), therefore the ability to change into different characters was entirely dropped. Instead, Captain Action came to possess magical coins, each of which provided him with a spectacular power from a Greek, Roman, or Norse mythological god (in a similar way to the original [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]]). Captain Action was given a real name of his own, Clive Arno, and was identified as a widowed archaeologist and museum curator, and was described as having located "the coins of power" in a buried city. Action Boy's comic-book alter-ego was Carl Arno, son of Clive. Dr. Evil was given a back-story too, having been Captain Action's father-in-law, then going mad in a mishap. The series lasted five issues, until July 1969.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=Captain Action |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/capac.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |accessdate=2 April 2020}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, writer [[Mike Tiefenbacher]] wrote a story proposal that would have revived Captain Action and Action Boy as "Captain Triumph" and "Javelin" in the "Whatever Happened To...?" backup feature in ''[[DC Comics Presents]]''. DC Comics rejected the idea due to copyright concerns regarding the characters.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Wells|first = John|title = Flashback: Whatever Happened to...?|journal= [[Back Issue!]]|issue = 64|pages = 51–61|publisher = [[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date = May 2013}}</ref>
Issue #5 of the ''Captain Action'' comic book series, retitled 'Thrills and Adventure', was used as a prop in the 'It's the Arts' episode of [[Monty Python's Flying Circus]].

==== Moonstone Books ====
In 2008 [[Moonstone Books]] began a new series and created a new back-story for the character. Captain Action was now Miles Drake, a former [[Marine (military)|Marine]] who discovers a cache of alien weaponry during the [[Vietnam War]]. The weapons are connected to a race of alien parasites called the Red Crawl, who have been taking over world leaders in a bid to dominate the earth. The Red Crawl's main representative on earth is Dr. Eville (based on Dr. Evil from the Ideal toy line). Drake becomes an agent of the A.C.T.I.O.N. Directorate, a secret agency operating outside the government and dedicated to defending earth from the alien menace. The name of the organization is an [[acronym]] for "Advanced Command for Telluric Interdiction Observation and Nullification". Eventually, the A.C.T.I.O.N. directorate is able to use the alien technology to create [[superheroes]] and the Red Crawl is apparently defeated. The series also tell the story of a second Captain Action, Miles's rebellious son, Cole Drake, who inherits the heroic identity in the 21st century. It is revealed that the Red Crawl was never actually defeated and that the superheroic Protectors are actually under their control. Cole must struggle against the renewed alien menace and the rogue superheroes. The stories of the original Captain Action are told in the 1960s where the character is a costumed super spy. The identity-changing aspect of the toy line shows up in Captain Action's ability to use a material called "plastiderm" to disguise himself as almost anyone. In the modern stories the younger Captain Action uses the more advanced "plasmaderm" which allows him not only to assume someone's likeness, but any powers they possess. Thus Captain Action is finally able to change into other superheroes, though this only works for original characters like Savior rather than for licensed characters like Superman. The exception to this has been a crossover adventure with [[the Phantom]] whose adventures Moonstone was also publishing.

Moonstone has featured a similarly revised Action Boy. In this version he is Sean Barrett, the son of a famous naturalist whose identity is assumed by Dr. Eville. His stories also take place in the 1960s. Moonstone has also created an original character, Lady Action, who works for the British branch of the A.C.T.I.O.N. Directorate. Both Action Boy and  the newly introduced Lady Action (AKA Nicola Sinclair), have been featured as back up stories in the Captain Action comic. Lady Action also debuted in a one shot comic of her own in 2010, and continues to play a pivotal role in the Captain Action ongoing Series.

[[Moonstone Books]] published a new Captain Action comic book from 2008 to 2010, with the initial six-issue arc written by [[Fabian Nicieza]]. A ''Captain Action Special'' was also released in 2010 as well as a two-issue miniseries teaming up Captain Action with the Phantom, written by [[Mike Bullock]]. In July 2010, ''Captain Action Season 2'', an ongoing series written by Steven Grant, debuted that lasted 3 issues. Moonstone planned on releasing ''Captain Action: Classified'', which would tell stories of Captain Action's earliest adventures in the 1960s, but this did not happen.

Instead, in 2013 [[Dynamite Entertainment]] put out a mini-series with Captain Action called ''Codename: Action'' that included several pulp and comic book characters in an origin story for Captain Action.

=== Games ===
In 2016 [http://SmallMonstersGames.com Small Monsters Games] developed and released the Captain Action card game. This is an all-ages [[casual game]] including art from classic comics artists [[Jerry Ordway]], Kerry Callen, and [[Paul Gulacy]]. The game was designed by Meg Stivison.

=== Books and novels ===
In 2010, the coffee table book  ''Captain Action: the Original Super Hero Action Figure'', by [[Michael Eury]], was published by [[TwoMorrows Publishing]].

In July 2012, an original Captain Action pulp novel was released by Airship 27, called ''Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men'', written by Jim Beard.

A second novel by Jim Beard titled ''Hearts of the Rising Sun'' was released in 2014 by Airship 27.

A novel featuring Lady Action — ''The Sands of Forever'' — by [[Ron Fortier]] was released by Airship 27 in 2015.

A third Captain Action novel titled ''Cry of the Jungle Lord'', written by Jim Beard and [[Barry Reese]], was released by Airship 27 in 2017.