Subject: Joe "Robbie" Robertson

Joe Robertson was born to be a journalist. As a student at Harlem High School, he worked for the school paper, becoming its editor during his senior year and winning a scholarship to the Columbia School of Journalism. Hardworking and dedicated, "Robbie" was a fearless reporter-until he ran afoul of one particular subject, fellow Harlem student Lonnie Thompson Lincoln, nicknamed Tombstone. A massive albino taunted by his peers because of his appearance, the brutal Lonnie considered Robbie a friend of sorts since Robbie was one of the few who never mocked him; however, when Lonnie began using his considerable strength to extort money from classmates, Robbie prepared a story for the Harlem High paper exposing Lonnie's activities. Ambushing Robbie after school, Tombstone beat him bloody until Robbie agreed to kill the story, which never saw print. Lonnie saw this as a cordial understanding between friends, but Robbie was disgusted with himself and determined never to compromise his ethics again.

Putting the Tombstone incident behind him, Joe graduated from Harlem, attended Columbia, got his degree, and landed a job several years later as a night-desk catcher with a Philadelphia newspaper. He also married his girlfriend, Martha, but Robbie's old secret would soon come back to haunt his new life. When a telephone tipster told Robbie he knew who had killed local crimelord Ozzy Montana, Robbie set up a secret waterfront meeting; but he found his informant dead in the grip of Tombstone, who had become a mob hitman with a penchant for snapping necks. Robbie fled and kept quiet about the whole incident, fearful of what Tombstone might do to him or his wife if he talked. Joe realized he had never fully recovered from his early encounters with Tombstone, and that the killer had a strange sort of hold over him.

Trying to forget his Tombstone failures, Robbie threw himself back into his journalism career. He and Martha moved back to Manhattan, where Joe became a reporter for the Daily Bugle. Over the next twenty years, Robbie rose through the ranks to become the Bugle's city editor and one of the city's most respected journalists. He formed a close friendship with the Bugle's publisher and editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson, supplying a calming yin to Jameson's raging yang. Though a good newspaperman at heart with a strong social conscience, Jameson has often allowed his personal biases to compromise his journalistic perspective, but Robbie's counterbalancing views have kept the Bugle's news coverage relatively fair (unlike many of Jameson's editorials). Jameson and Robertson have sharply differing views on super heroes in general and Spider-Man in particular. Jameson tends to regard costumed vigilantes with suspicion and contempt, and is consumed by a jealous loathing of Spider-Man, not knowing the hero is secretly young Bugle photographer Peter Parker. Robbie has a more objective view of New York's super heroes, judging them by their actions, and has aided Spider-Man and other heroes on many occasions. Robbie has also been something of a fatherly mentor to Peter Parker, and has often seemed aware of Peter's dual identity; but he has never voiced, exploited or acted on this knowledge, and has even protected Peter's secret on occasion, such as when he steered Bugle reporter Ken Ellis away from learning the truth.