I realized that using frameless wikitext images can get you images in the actual article - better SEO, easier linking without JS etc. The modules will also need some JS to make sure clicking anywhere on them navigates to the article.
I've got a pretty advanced sandbox going here.
EDIT: Just noticed you described some quality issues. There is a definite upper bound with quality for wikitext images, but yours doesn't look too bad (good source quality, possibly). Noting there's going to be ads, CSS and other loads to contend with if only images are used.
I'll probably be using CSS backgrounds on the image blocks with header text on top.