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

Today, based on a suggestion from my buddy Loren, we look at the story of Martha Kent's first husband!

One of the best changes to the Superman mythos that John Byrne made in Man of Steel was to have Ma and Pa Kent still be alive even as Clark Kent was an adult. It gave him a sounding board and two really adorable supporting characters...

Soon into his run on the Superman titles, Byrne did a series of miniseries focusing on the various "worlds" of Superman (Krypton, Smallville and Metropolis).

In World of Smallville #1 (with art by Kurt Schaffenberger and Alfredo Alcala), Byrne opened with a shocker!

Yes, Martha Clark was married to someone else BEFORE Jonathan Kent!

Kent was thought to be killed during World War II and so when he arrived back in Smallville, his high school sweetheart, Martha Clark, had married the head of the Fordman department store chain...

She, of course, still held a torch for him...

Her husband was a swell guy, but he was dying of cancer...

At the end of the issue, we see that her husband actually asked Jonathan to take her from him!

The next issue deals with the death of Martha's husband...

Back at home, Jonathan just can't bring himself to try to date a married woman...

Meanwhile, Fordman's sister believes that Martha is out to get her brother's money.

In one of their altercations, he dies in Martha's arms...

We learn, however, while Martha knew he was sick before she married him, she specifically did NOT want his fortune when he died. He left it all to the store, but he made a gift of some land to Martha...

Eventually, Jonathan made his move and they built a farmhouse on the land...

And it was promptly never discussed again.

Don't get me wrong, the story was fine. It was a cute little tale. Nothing wrong with it. But for whatever reason, no one ever wanted to touch it in the years to come and we've been through about seventy-five continuity resets since then, so there REALLY is no chance now of it coming up again.

Thanks for the suggestion, Loren!

If anyone wants me to write about an interesting plot point that was introduced and then almost instantaneously ignored, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!