Joseph "Robbie" Robertson
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Joseph "Robbie" Robertson is a supporting character in Marvel Comics's Spider-Man series. Created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., he first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #51 (August 1967).
Robertson was one of the first African-American characters in comics to play a serious supporting role, rather than act as comic relief. He has usually been a high-ranking editor at the New York newspaper The Daily Bugle and a close confidant of publisher J. Jonah Jameson, acting as a voice of reason in Jameson’s campaign to discredit Spider-Man. He is also more friendly and supportive of Peter Parker (Spider-Man’s alter ego) and other Bugle staffers than the brash Jameson.
Robertson is currently the paper’s editor-in-chief. He is also known for his decades-old feud with the superhuman hit man Tombstone.
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[edit] History
Joseph Roberston was born in Harlem, New York. He is married to Marla and they have had two sons. Their first son, Patrick Henry Robertson, died when he was only six months old. Their second son ("Randy") is currently divorced. As an ethnic minority, that grew up in Harlem, Roberston seemed to sympathize with the downtrodden, including the comics' mutants and preached tolerance. He was forced to practice what he preached when his son came home from college with his white Jewish wife ("Amanda").
Robertson is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle, the newspaper at which Peter Parker works and sells his photographs of Spider-Man. Unlike the Bugle's volatile Publisher, J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie tries his best to remain objective towards Spider-Man instead of automatically assuming he is a criminal. Robbie is also the only Bugle employee who does not fear the wrath of his boss and is ready to stand up to him on editorial matters. Robbie has served as Publisher when Jameson temporarily stepped down. Robbie was a close personal friend of Captain George Stacy, and it has been implied, although not outright stated, that Robbie has deduced Spider-Man's secret identity, as Stacy did. Robbie's son Randy is also a close friend of Peter Parker.
Robbie grew up in Harlem, and as a teenager was a classmate of Lonnie Thompson Lincoln, later infamous as the brutal hit man Tombstone. Writing an article for the high school newspaper about Lincoln's bullying and extortion, Robbie retracted it after being threatened by Lincoln. Years later, while working as a reporter in Philadelphia, Robbie encountered Lincoln again, who this time had just murdered one of Robbie's contacts. Once again, Lincoln threatened Robertson, and the journalist fled to New York and began working for the Bugle. He told nobody of the murder he witnessed.
20 years later, when Tombstone began his career doing jobs for the Kingpin, Robbie, determined not to be intimidated again, began collecting evidence of past crimes that would have Tombstone incarcerated for life. Furious at his former acquaintance's betrayal, Tombstone hunted Robbie down and supposedly broke the journalist's spine with his bare hands. Robbie was laid up for months as a result of this, but later made a full recovery, as his spine was not broken after all.
Some time later, Tombstone was arrested and tried, thanks in part to Spider-Man. Breaking 20 years of silence, Robbie testified against his old schoolmate in court. The judge, however, was on the Kingpin's payroll and circumstances led to Robertson having to agree to serve 3 years himself for withholding evidence of the Philadelphia murder. Robbie and Tombstone ended up in the same cell block, where the hit man made the former journalist's life miserable. So broken was Robbie's spirit that he half-heartedly went along with a jailbreak. However, when Tombstone attacked an interfering Spider-Man, Robbie regained his nerve and attacked. The two men fell out of the escape helicopter and landed in a river near an Amish farm.
Things came to a head when Robbie moved to defend the farmer's family from Tombstone, stabbing him with a pitchfork and not caring about preserving his own life. Seemingly stunned by this, Tombstone backed off. While Tombstone has not abandoned his murderous ways, he has officially called off his vendetta on Robbie. Robbie received a pardon for his efforts to protect the Amish family, and resumed work at the Daily Bugle.
[edit] In Other Media
Robertson made a brief appearance in the Spider-Man movie (2002). He was played by actor Bill Nunn, who reprised the role in the sequel. Much like his comic counterpart, Robertson seemed to support Spider-Man, and suspects Peter Parker to be the hero. Robbie also appeared in the made-for-TV movie starring Nicholas Hammond, and was a frequently recurring character in the Spider-Man animated series of the 1980s and 1990s.
In the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Robbie was J. Jonah Jameson's right-hand man and the person trying to have Jameson see that Spider-Man isn't evil (like in the comics). And also like in the comics, he was a former friend of Lonny Lincoln, also known as Tombstone. Back when Robbie and Lonny were kids, they last see each other when they wanted to get some ice cream but unfortunately, it was closed. Then Lonny accidentally threw his basketball through a window and he insisted that Robbie would help him get to the cold junk food. Robbie boosted him up but he knew the police would come. So he quickly abandoned him while Lonny was arrested. Robbie felt guilty about leaving Lonny on that point on. By the time Robbie got a job at a local newspaper years later, he would investigate about the Spalding Chemical Plant. He found Lonny, now a crook, there so Robbie can be put to jail so he can have his revenge for abandoning him at the grocery store. Robbie tried to catch him but Lonny unfortunately slipped and fell into a chemical pool where Robbie thought he died. In order to mend his mistakes back years ago since the grocery store, he decided to stay until he let the police hear his story and they let him go. But by the time he became Jameson's right-hand man, Robbie was horrifed to figure out his son, Randy, is in a thug gang called the Bandana Gang. And worse, he found out that Lonny managed to survive falling into the chemical pool but turned into an ugly mutant known as Tombstone, who also lead the Bandana Gang.
In the end, Spider-Man and Robbie teamed up to put Tombstone in jail and also have Randy figure out the Bandana Gang was no place for him. But by the fourth season premiere of Spider-Man, when Tombstone was incarcerated in Rooker's Island and wanted to get revenge on Robbie for what he did, he teamed up with Richard Fisk, who was also incarcerated in Rooker's and was jailed earlier before Tombstone, and with Richard's connections, they had Robbie framed and taken to the same prison they were so Tombstone can kill Robbie. But Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson saved Robbie and cleared his name.
By the Six Forgotten Warriors saga at the fifth (and final) season of this show, Peter Parker lied to J. Jonah Jameson that Spider-Man was going to Russia to rule the world. Jameson believed him and Robbie went with Peter to accompany him and make sure he gets some pictures. Robbie acted weird while in Russia because he knew some people who would explain about Peter's parents when they were thought to be traitors to Russia. Robbie even knew Omar Mosley, who knew the story about the Six Forgotten Warriors. One of the Six Forgotten Warriors' members was the Black Marvel (who was said to be dead) and Omar said he was the Black Marvel's sidekick (but secretly, Omar was the Black Marvel himself). Robbie even figured out that Wilson Fisk was the Kingpin.
By the series finale of the show, in the Scarlet Spider's reality, all of New York was destroyed with nearly everyone dead, thanks to the murderous rampage the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin have committed. The only survivors were J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie. Hobgoblin threatened Jameson if he didn't give the broadcaster on the roof of J3 Communications, then he would drop Robbie off a ledge. Spider-Man saved Robbie but surprisingly, Robbie hated Spider-Man as much as Jameson did because here, in this reality, Spider-Man was Spider-Carnage and he was the boss of the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin.
[edit] Alternate Continuities
In the alternate timeline of the MC2 universe, it is revealed that Robbie Robertson was killed by Doctor Octopus shortly after the disappearance/retirement of Spider-Man. This motivates Jameson to initiate "Project: Human Fly", an attempt to create a government controlled superhero. Mercenaries (later revealed to be in the employ of Doctor Octopus) attempt to steal the Human Fly suit, but are thwarted when Jameson's grandson takes the suit (the controls of which bond to the first user) and becomes the superhero The Buzz. The Buzz and Spider-Girl eventually apprehend Doctor Octopus, who falls into a coma.
Although J. Jonah Jameson believes the Buzz to be a criminal, implicated in the murder of the suit's intended wearer, he shows some satisfaction that his project led to the capture of Doctor Octopus.
