Joseph Samachson was born on October 13, 1906 in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Anna and David Louis Samachson, a businessman. Joseph Samachson died of complications from Parkinson's disease on June 2, 1980 in Chicago, Illinois. He was survived by his wife, now deceased, a son, Michael Samachson, and a daughter, the photographer Miriam Berkley.
As a writer, Samachson translated a number of scientific papers, and in addition to his scientific work, earned a well-deserved reputation as an author, writing books for young people such as Mel Oliver and Space Rover on Mars, which was also published in a Dutch translation.
He wrote a number of science fiction works, including two novels published in Startling Stories, the 1937 pulp title Murder of a Professor and short stories for a number of magazines, including Money from Heaven. He also penned a couple of Captain Futurepulp novels c.1941–1942, and had work appear in the science fiction magazineGalaxy. His young adult novelMel Oliver and Space Rover on Mars was published by Gnome Press in 1954.
Comics
He is believed to have begun working for DC Comics in late 1942, working on comics scripts for characters notably including Batman. He also wrote scripts for comics and characters including Sandman, Green Arrow, Airwave and Robotman, as well as "a string of 17 science-fiction stories in 1955 and 1956". In 1955, he created 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, 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. In 1943 Samachson also created the character Two-Gun Percy, which first appeared under the DC Comics imprint All Funny Comics and was drawn by Bernard Baily. In 1975, DC Comics adapted an unused story he wrote in the 1940's featuring the Seven Soldiers of Victory into a six-part serial in Adventure Comics #438-443.
With his wife Dorothy Samachson, he wrote about theater, music, ballet, archeology and a number of other titles, including Rome, a Rand McNally "Cities of the World" title. In addition, Samachson was a frequent contributor to scientific journals and the author of The Armor Within Us: The Story of Bone.
