Joseph Samachson (1906-1980) was an American scientist and author, primarily of science fiction and comic books. 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.

Joe Samachson started working for DC Comics in 1942 on the title Action Comics and soon he moved on to titles like Detective Comics, Batman, Adventure Comics and more. He wrote scripts for comics and characters notably including Batman, Sandman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Airwave, Shining Knight, Starman, Robotman, Vigilante and Zatara. He is often cited as the creator of the character Martian Manhunter along with artist Joe Certa, and the character Tomahawk along with artist Edmund Good.