Joseph Greene

Joseph Lawrence Greene (August 1, 1914 – 1990) was an American author of science fiction novels and short stories whose most familiar creations are Tom Corbett, Space Cadet which, in 1951, became a television series popular with young audiences, as well as Dig Allen Space Explorer, a series of six books published between 1959 and 1962, which focused around the adolescent hero Dig Allen and his interplanetary adventures in the genre of boys' juvenile literature. A prolific writer, he also contributed numerous stories to comic books and was an editor, until 1972, for Grosset publishing while writing under a number of pseudonyms including, purportedly, the house pen name "Alvin Schwartz" and also "Richard Mark", and using sundry variations of his own name ("Joseph Lawrence", "Joe Green", "Joseph Verdy", "Larry Verdi", "Lawrence Vert"), which exemplified such foreign-language wordplays for "Green" as "Verdy", "Verdi" and "Vert". In 1942, he is believed to have begun working for DC Comics on their All-American line of characters including Aquaman, Boy Commandos, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

He is also said to have worked for comics publishers including the American Comics Group, Better Publications (including on The Fighting Yank), Dell Publications (including Tom Corbett, Space Cadet), Lev Gleason Publications, Marvel Comics as well as Fawcett Comics and Hillman Periodicals for which, during the early 1950s, he wrote various romance comics.

According to comics historian Jerry Bails, Greene wrote for Frank Frazetta's syndicated newspaper strip Johnny Comet/Ace McCoy in 1952–53, The following year, Greene refined the title as Space Academy, submitting another radio script to NBC, and, ultimately, to Rockhill Studios, which expanded its efforts in working with him to develop it as a show for the newly developing medium of television.

Written under the name "Carey Rockwell", the series' authorship is not nearly as well documented as that of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's output, but suggestions naturally include Greene himself as editor (an association made by Jerry Bails

Following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service in 1965 over delinquent taxes, Rockhill's rights to Tom Corbett were purchased by a new entity, Direct Recordings, Inc. while papers owned by Stanley Wolfe were later donated to the University of Southern California.