These samples require a bit of an explanation. Wolverine # 171 was the second part of a three part story, and without words, it was incomprehensible. (At least, it was to me!) I didn't know who the guy with long hair was, or what he was all about. I had to go back to the store and buy the previous issue in order to understand this one.

Right away, that's a failure. Every comic should be understandable on its own, even if that requires a summary at the front of the book to catch people up. (Standard practice, now at Marvel.) But there was none of that back then, so I thought my job as scripter was, first and foremost, to explain to people what the hell was going on.

(And keep in mind, I'd been reading Wolverine in various titles for over twenty years by that point. It was hard to knock me for a loop, but without Part One, Part Two was up for grabs.)

That's why the first page is a plot summary, told through captions. This was an approach used all the time back in the day, and I felt it was entirely appropriate here.