After a bit of break, the Family Tree's are back! A personal favourite fictional family: The Robertson's! Since the introduction of Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson way back when, the Robertson's have been a consistent and stable feature of the Spidey titles.
Despite the insistence of several reputable sources which tell me Joe Robertson first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #51, I'm not entirely convinced. But I can definitely agree that Robbie appears in the very next issue Amazing Spider-Man #52, as he's identified by name. While we learn a lot of Robbie's past through flashbacks in Spectacular Spider-Man #139, including his unfortunate relationship with Tombstone, we never do learn how he met his dear wife. Martha Eleanor Robertson makes her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #71, though she does make a small appearance in a photo beforehand in Amazing Spider-Man #68. Martha and Joe are the proud parents of Randolph 'Randy' Robertson, who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #67.
While I can't find a primary source for their names, Joe's parents are identified as Alice and Samuel Robertson in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 9, both deceased at some point prior to meeting Martha, as Robbie recounts in Amazing Spider-Man #196. It is also in ASM #196 where we learn Robbie and Martha's first child Patrick Henry Robertson tragically died at only six months old. The enormity of this event stills affects them to this day.
After moving away to Pittsburg, Robbie met and married a Jewish woman named Amanda 'Mandy' Batavides, as we learn in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #112. While I can't find a reference for Amanda Robertson's surname pre-marriage in primary sources, it is given in the OHOTMU Vol. 9. Randy neglected to tell his parents of his hasty marriage, leading to some initial misgivings from Robbie.
And now comes the part of the post where I discuss divergent timelines and bore you all to death. Or I could just show you this scene from the post-reboot Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17:
As this occurs in a comic outside of the MC2's established timeline, we can assume Randy and Amanda are either still happily married or worked through there problems and reconciled. Now, why did I bring this plot point up?
Because in The Buzz #1 we meet Richie Robertson, son of Randy and grandson of Joe Robertson. I reached out to Richie's co-creator, consummate professional and all-round-good-guy Mr Ron Frenz for some behind the scenes information and he confirmed that 'Richie' is short for Richard. Additionally, Ron also revealed that he and Tom Defalco didn't have anyone in particular in mind for Richie's mother. They've kindly given me permission to indulge myself by putting Amanda in this role. Thank you, gentlemen!
Sadly when we catch up with Richie, we learn that the Robertson's suffered a terrible loss not long after Spider-Man finally hung up his webs. Joe Robertson was murdered by Doctor Octopus during an attack on Bugle. We also learn that Richie's father, Randy works for the New York City Council, while Richie put his considerable intellect to use working on Project: Human Fly along side Dr Marla Jameson and the treacherous Dr Sonja Jade. The project was the brainchild of J Jonah Jameson following Joe's murder, largely to ensure there was a hero who could be controlled and accountable for their actions.
Richie goes on to become The Buzz's closest ally in his fight for justice, despite their sometimes prickly relationship. When confronted with the man who killed his grandfather, Richie insists JJ aka The Buzz brings him in to face justice, but when given the choice between proving Dr Jade's involvement and saving Doc Ock, he was more than happy for The Buzz to leave Ock to die.
Richie is honestly one of the most interesting supporting characters in the MC2 and I would love to have seen more of him and the Robertson's. The impact the family has on the mythos can't be understated.
Special thanks to Mr Ron Frenz, Josh Bertone and Alex Evangeli for their help with this one.
Until I start working on theses family tree's more regularly again, I remain
frogoat