As a disembodied spirit, Deadman could not be seen or heard by most others (certain mystics could still perceive him), was able to pass through objects, and could fly or float. He was able to possess any living being (human or animal), control their actions, and could communicate with people through another's body. In one storyline, however, he could not control certain criminal henchmen he possessed due to their minds being under post-hypnotic suggestion (since their minds were not truly theirs in that instance). The people he possessed retained no memory of the experience. He has issues possessing those with stronger minds like Batman and is often forced out in a short amount of time. Deadman also has problems with magic as his spiritual form can be manipulated by it to some degree. As a living human, he is an Olympic-level athlete well-trained in acrobatics. As a wearer of a White power ring he possesses whatever powers the ring confers upon its wielder. These powers, so far, include flight, invisibility (or the ability to cloak his presence), teleportation, healing severe wounds, making solid energy constructs, and the power to bring beings back to life. However, he had no control over these new powers and the scope and limitations on those powers are as yet undefined. The Black Lantern power ring gave his reanimated corpse similar abilities, however it reanimates the dead instead of fully resurrecting them. Deadman appeared twice briefly in Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Elseworlds story "Kingdom Come", first as an extra in a metahuman bar (Alongside Rorschach, Obsidian, and the Question) where he offered some words of encouragement to Norman McCay. He appears as a skeleton wearing the tattered remains of his Deadman uniform. He introduces himself as simply "Boston", and also appears in the sequel "The Kingdom" as a guide to time-lost, deceased versions of Superman. This version of Deadman was made into an action figure by DC Direct for Series 3 of their "Kingdom Come" line. Deadman also appears in Neil Gaiman's story "The Books of Magic", looking very similar to his appearance in "Kingdom Come". He possesses the body of several people throughout the comic, trying to warn Timothy Hunter about a coming danger. In 2006, Vertigo a DC Comics imprint, announced that it would trade some of its trademark characters with others of DC's. Among the swaps was Vertigo's Jonah Hex in exchange for Deadman.