Joseph Samachson (October 13, 1906 – June 2, 1980) was an American scientist and writer, primarily of science fiction and comic books.
Biography
Joseph Samachson was born on October 13, 1906, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Anna (Roshansky) and David Louis Samachson, a businessman.
Samachson died of complications from Parkinson's disease on June 2, 1980, in Chicago, Illinois. He had a son, Michael Samachson, and a daughter, the photographer Miriam Berkley.
Career
Biochemist
A graduate of Rutgers University, he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Yale at the age of 23. He was an assistant professor at the College of Medicine, University of Illinois. He also headed a laboratory in metabolic research at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Hines, Illinois, a research unit dealing with diseases that affect the skeleton. Comics historian Jerry Bails wrote that Samachson worked as a research chemist for the American Molasses Company until 1938, leaving to become a "freelance technical writer". He also wrote science fiction and comics.
Science fiction and pulps
thumb|right|Samachson's novella "The Dragon Army", written under his "William Morrison" byline, was the cover story in the November 1952 issue of Fantastic Adventures
He wrote many science fiction works (under the pseudonym William Morrison), including two novels published in Startling Stories,
In 1955, he created (with artist Joe Certa) the Martian Manhunter in the pages of Detective Comics #225. Usually credited as author on the initial strip, some commentators believe that he may have produced the plot, but that writer Jack Miller (who most believe succeeded Samachson in writing the character with the next issue), may have produced the first script. Don Markstein's Toonopedia also suggests that Samachson wrote "many subsequent" appearances of J'Onn J'Onzz rather than just the first. Jerry Bails also lists Samachson as having co-created the historical DC character Tomahawk.
Other work
With his wife Dorothy Samachson, he wrote about theater ("Let's Meet the Theatre" and "The Dramatic Story of the Theatre"), music ("Masters of Music" and The Fabulous World of Opera), ballet, archeology (Good Digging) and a number of other titles, including Rome, a Rand McNally "Cities of the World" title.