013: Unwelcomed Visitor and Spoken For by William Morrison

We’ve got two short science fiction stories for you today on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast with at least one lost sci-fi short story in every episode.

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We’ve already narrated 5 sci-fi stories written by William Morrison and many more are on the way. We had no idea that William Morrison was born Joseph Samachson on October 13, 1906, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Russian Jewish parents.

This guy has an incredible bio. 

He graduated fromRutgers University, then earned a Ph.D. in chemistry fromYaleat the age of 23. He was an assistant professor at the College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois. He also headed a laboratory in metabolic research at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Chicago. Samachson worked as aresearch chemistfor theAmerican Molasses Companyuntil 1938, leaving to become a "freelance technical writer".

Then in 1941 his first short sci-fi story was released. Writing as William Morrison, for reasons unknown, "Bad Medicine"appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine in February 1941. He would go on to write about 80 short sci-fi stories over the next 17 years.

If that’s not enough, he started writing for DC Comics sometime around 1942. Contributing to stories for both Batman and Superman, he even created a character of his own. That character would appear in the 4-hour epic, Zach Snyder’s Justice League released in 2021. Played by veteran Hollywood actor Harry Lennix, the character Samachson created 66 years earlier appeared on the big screen. John Johns, aka Martian Manhunter is a shapeshifter stranded on Earth originally from Mars. 

Martian Manhunter first appeared in the November 1955 issue #225 of Detective Comics. A copy of issue #225 sold 5 years ago for an amazing $120,000! You can find a copy on eBay right now at the bargain Buy It Now Price for only $34,995. 

Joseph Samachson also found time to write scripts for a science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network. Captain Video and His Video Rangers aired from 1949 to 1955. If you’re curious you can watch several full-length episodes on YouTube.

Samachson received special thanks credits in Zach Snyder’s Justice League and The Lego Batman movie. 

A legendary sci-fi writer himself, Frederik Pohl once remarked that Samachson was "one of the most shamefully neglected writers in the history of science fiction." That’s high praise.

Samachson died of complications from Parkinson's diseaseon June 2, 1980 in Chicago.

Xhanph was the fully accredited ambassador from Gfun,and Earth's first visitor from outer space.History and the amenities called for a tremendousreception. But earth people are funny people....Taken from the pages of “If Worlds of Science Fiction” in October 1954,Unwelcomed Visitor by William Morrison