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Background
Joe Robertson was a hard working student growing up in Harlem, New York.
His journalistic career was plagued by Lonnie Thompson Lincoln, the
albino known as Tombstone. At Harlem High School, Robbie was forced to
withdraw and article exposing the criminal exploits of Lincoln. Later in
Philadelphia, Robertson witnessed Lincoln murder a man. Again, Robertson
fled from Lincoln's threats. Moving back to New York, Robbie moved up
the ranks at the Daily Bugle.
It is worth nothing that Robbie Robertson distinguished himself at
the Daily Bugle as the only subordinate of JJJ that was not initimidated by
his blustering manner and was the only one who would openly defy him when
the situation called for it. He also has tried to tone down the editorial
attacks on Spidey over the past years.
He also had to deal with his strong tempered son, Randy Robertson. Randy
had a militant tendency when it came to equal rights for African American
students at Empire State University. Robbie had to explain to him that the best
way to get change is to work with the system.
Robbie tended to stay out of the problems that Joanh got into, but when the
Daily Bugle decided to end its support for District Attorney candidate Sam
Bullit, Robbie couldnt avoid the danger. He kept a file on Bullit's support
for hate groups, which didnt sit well with the bigoted Bullit. Robbie was
kidnapped but was saved by Spider-Man and Ice Man.
When Tombstone returned to New York, Robbie decided to confront his
lifelong nemisis.
After Tombstone nearly broke Robbie's back, Robbie was
subpoenaed to stand trial for failure to report a crime. Robertson was
found guilty and sentenced for 3 years. (Spectacular Spider-Man #149-150)
Tombstone arranged to be
transferred to the same prison as Robbie. There, Tombstone broke out of
jail, taking Robbie with him. Robbie eventually stabbed Tombstone with a
pitchfork in a fight on an Amish farm, turned himself in to the police,
and was eventually granted a pardon. This all occured in Spectacular Spider-Man
#151-157. Tombstone survived.
Robbie is currently dealing with life at the Daily Bugle as
Editor-In-Chief facing a massive staff reduction and budget cuts. For a
time it appeared he made the connection between Peter Parker and
Spider-Man, but seeing the Ben
Reilly Spider-Man with Peter together
appears to have thrown him off.
Following Norman Osborn's assumption of
ownership of the Daily Bugle, and various dangerous attacks to his own
person (such as from Meiko Yin and the Black Tarantula) , Joe resigned
from his long-held position. Determined to take back the
Bugle, Robbie investigated Norman's background and learned about Alison
Mongrain, the woman who poisoned Mary Jane and kidnapped her unborn baby.
Bringing her back to the US from France, Robbie helped her to the Parker house,
all the while dodging attacks from the Molten Man. Robbie quit the Bugle
for a while, partly due to his wife, Marla, being injured by Carnage while
visiting her husband.
Robbie returned to the Bugle, a much needed "good cop" to J. Jonah
Jameson's "bad cop." One of Robbie's defining moments came in the after math of
the Superhuman Registration Act, when Peter was forced to reveal his identity
to the world. This act led Spider-Man's enemies to take shots at Peter's loved
ones and a sniper hired by the Kingpin managed to badly injure Aunt
May. Spider-Man spared no one as he searched for the shooter and the people
that hired him, and he snapped the shotgun of an officer in half when he tried
to arrest Spidey. The whole thing was caught on tape and Jonah was foaming at
the mouth at the thought of getting an interview with the guy that shot the
film. Robbie objected, telling Jameson "How many coincidences were needed for
Peter and Spider-Man to have been two different people? It's insane!...But you
loved the circulation. You loved the money....That's a man and a co-worker and
maybe even, heaven forbid, a friend, and he's in a world of pain!"
Robbie told Jonah to do whatever he wanted, because, after all, he's the boss.
Coming back to Jonah's office later, Robertson appologized. Jonah was glad to
hear it and promptly fired him. Jonah used Robbie's firing to lure out Peter,
who confronted him and got Robbie's job back.
Thanks To:
Some of the above information is extracted from the various
versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent
Marvel Encyclopaedias.
The assistance of the
Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
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