In every installment of “If I Pass This Way Again,” we look at odd comic book plot points that were rarely (sometimes NEVER!) mentioned again after they were first introduced.

Today, in a riff on a piece I did years ago for a now-changed feature (whose name I'm going to use for a new feature coming up soon, so I figured I'd clear up the one piece I did for that old feature), I take a look at the strange, brief period that Edwin Jarvis and Tony Stark had a father/son relationship.

Okay, when Edwin Jarvis first debuted, it was not even in the pages of the Avengers OR the Iron Man feature in Tales of Suspense, but instead, it was in the pages of the CAPTAIN AMERICA feature of Tales of Suspense, where Cap is hanging out at Avengers Mansion having just returned to society and knowing only the Avengers...

Jarvis made his first appearance in the Avengers in Avengers #16, when Hawkeye took him hostage to prove himself worthy of being an Avenger (a rather backwards way of proving you belong to be an Avenger, right?)...

The thing is, check it out, like this Avengers #18 appearance, how Jarvis wasn't even NAMED in these stories! He was just "Tony Stark's butler."

Jarvis never interacted with Iron Man, despite being Tony Stark's butler. He would not show up in the Iron Man feature in Tales of Suspense. He was just a background guy, getting drinks and the like. His only interactions of note were with Captain America in Cap's Tales of Suspense feature...

Eventually, in Avengers #54, Thomas gave Jarvis a personality for the first time...

Thomas' story was almost based on the fact that no one knew anything about Jarvis, so they didn't know his mom was sick, which is how Ultron got to him at first (and then began brainwashing him). He eventually helped saved the Avengers, thus proving himself to the Avengers and they forgave him for betraying them (although the Wasp really made him for work for it).

Finally, in Avengers Annual #1, Iron Man and Jarvis interacted and it was barely anything...

Their interactions with Iron Man in his secret identity did not exactly seem like they were close, like when Jarvis wouldn't let Tony Stark into Avengers Mansion without a password in Iron Man #17...

Then, Jarvis showed his true feelings about Stark in Iron Man #50...

Hell, Jarvis flat out QUIT working for Stark in Iron Man #127!! This was during the time that Tony Stark's alcoholism was causing problems for him in his private life.

Stark made up with Jarvis, but come on, this is not some close relationship, right?

Even after Jarvis was almost killed during "Under Siege," with Tony Stark on the West Coast now, Tony stopped by and visited Jarvis in the hospital and their interactions were cordial, but not much more than that. Here is a guy who is sad that he let an employee down, not a man who is worried about his surrogate father, ya know?

So when did things change between Stark and Jarvis? When did they become like father and son?

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During "The Crossing," The Avengers traveled back in time with Jarvis to track down the younger version of Tony Stark, because the adult version of Stark had been corrupted by Kang. In order to prove that they are legit, the Jarvises talk about their feelings for Tony Stark and it is quite a shock that they are now thinking of him like their kid!!

After the adult Tony dies sacrificing himself to save the world, the reading of his will further talks about how much Tony loved Jarvis (both of these stories were written by Terry Kavanagh, so this was his idea)....

Really, it seems like Kavanagh seriously just adopted the Bruce Wayne/Alfred Pennyworth relationship from the Batman comics (which even there, had only been a thing since Frank Miller's work) for Tony/Jarvis.

And sure enough, later writer had Jarvis return to his normal life. Even when Iron Man recruited Jarvis to work with the All-New, All-Different Avengers, it was just like they were old pals and nothing more...

In the movies, though, JARVIS became Iron Man's initial artificial intelligence for his armor, so I guess that suggests a close relationship (Jarvis was very close to Howard Stark in the MCU, as Stark assigned Jarvis to help Peggy Carter in her TV series)...

If someone else has a suggestion for an interesting plot point that was introduced and then almost instantaneously ignored, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!