Silent preludes and the empty recap box
Some Marvel NFT comic preludes contain no dialogue. Collectors skip them because the recap box is empty and the marketplace blurb only praises the art treatment. In the Night Market sample, that silent rain page is the only clear view of the amulet’s first theft.
We file such pages as beat 0. The index line describes the visible object and location without spoiling later nights. A reading order that starts at beat 1 will still function, but clubs then argue about who stole what.
If the prelude exists only as a motion cover with identical interiors to issue 1, we do not invent beat 0. The test is whether the pages introduce a fact later chapters assume. Word count is the wrong test.