Another way that a splash page can front a story is by dropping the reader into the middle of the story, or in medias res, if you want to get all schooly about it. In this case, there’s no intro or expository dialog, you’re simply plopped right in the middle of, hopefully, an intriguing, exciting pivotal scene in the story. Then the details leading up to that moment can be backfilled in flashbacks. This can be done either by going back the start of the story or by feeding the reader pieces of information on a need-to-know basis. Of course, if you have Barry Smith illustrating your story, you’ll have the reader’s attention no matter what you do.
