Joe "Robbie" Robertson

Real Name: Joseph "Robbie" Robertson

Voiced by: Rodney Saulsberry

Biography

Peter Parker first meets the 46-year-old Bugle Editor-In-Chief as his immediate superior  -- the guy who actually buys the pictures -- while Joe is still the City Editor.  Unlike Jameson, Joe is fully aware of the debt he owes to Peter Parker, whose exclusive photos of Spider-Man are probably as responsible as anything else for the Bugle's consistently outselling its chief competitor, the Daily Globe.  He is unlike Jameson, too, in that he's not above giving credit where credit is due.

Like H. L. Mencken, an old fourth-estater whose writings he admires, Joe often feels vaguely embarrassed by human folly, and his dismay at most people's boundless capacity for becoming their own worst enemy expresses itself in a curmudgeonly demeanor.  But his crustiness is often belied by quiet acts of kindness and supportiveness toward other members of the Bugle staff -- especially those like Gloria Grant, who bears the brunt of J. Jonah Jameson's myriad cruelties.

Regarding Jameson, Robertson will tell you he believes that Jonah's self-proclaimed tolerance and progressiveness are phony. But there does seem to be some genuine warmth between the men.  Indeed, for some inexplicable reason, Robertson insists he "understand" his boss, and will sometimes go out of his way to make excuses for him.

Perhaps it's because of what they have in common: a deep, abiding love of journalism that goes back a long way.  Like his boss, "Robbie" began his journalistic career while still a teenager.  As a hard-working at Harlem High School, Joe became the editor of the school newspaper during his senior year.

After high school, Robertson was granted a full scholarship to the School of Journalism at Columbia.  Four years after he graduated, he obtained a job as a night desk catcher with a newspaper in Philadelphia.  Eventually, Joe moved back to New York, where Joe took a job at the Daily Bugle, quickly becoming one of the paper's best reporters.  And, like Jameson before him, he quickly moved up the ladder till he landed the position of City Editor.