So I managed to get the images to appear by clicking "no" for 'Load built-in StyleSheet'. The first article img appears perfectly, the second underlaps the tabs, and the third underlaps the tabs even further.
The content of the articles is exactly the same, since I simply copied the first article twice to rule out differing article content/spacing being the problem.
I have tired the module in several positions with the same result: showcase (currently), feature, mainbottom, content-bottom.
I have also uninstalled Jumi, which is the only extension I've installed since upgrading Joomla to 2.5 last night (which caused the images to initially disappear... prior to that they were appearing perfectly in 1.7)
PS. When I installed Jumi and saved the code, the code was changed (cleaned-up?) Anyone know what setting I need to changed to prevent this in the future? thank you!
I very much appreciate any tips/insights that anyone can offer!!!
pps. 'saved the code'... as in, opened a new jumi mod, pasted mailchimp email sign up embed form code, saved, and the code was "cleaned up" and so form did not appear as intended... just clarifying.