Dr. Robert William Paine was born in the fictional city of Foxwood Farms, Illinois presumably in the early decades of the Twentieth Century.

During World War II, Paine worked as an American intelligence agent and was assigned to infiltrate Nazi Germany.

[3] After many years of fighting crime, The Black Fox eventually retired to teach history and law at Northwestern University in Chicago.

During the final battle against the Skrulls, most of the First Line team, including Black Fox, were killed.

During the "Secret Wars" storyline, a version of Black Fox was seen residing in the Battleworld domain of the Deadlands as a zombie.