At the time, I thought, "Whoa! I've nearly done ten strips! I need to do a recap strip just in case people have forgotten what the plot is!"
Now that the comics have reached 600, I feel less obliged to give the obligatory recap. I don't really like removing the fourth wall in Steve & Bob, but it works really well sometimes for the comedy.
The fourth wall is firmly in place for the new comic I'm doing, as it's less of a comedy and more story telling, but with Steve and Bob, it was never about the story telling... :-P