Weird initializer behavior

ComicViewController.swift

import UIKit

class ComicViewController: UIViewController, UIScrollViewDelegate {

    var comicToLoad:NSDictionary

    /* This is a custom initializer, but it has to call init(nibName, bundle) or there's a compiler error.
       I get that, because init(nibName, bundle) is the designated initializer, but ... */ 
    init(passedInComic: NSDictionary) {
        comicToLoad = passedInComic
        
        super.init(nibName: nil, bundle: nil)

        automaticallyAdjustsScrollViewInsets = false
    }

    /* ... this also has to be here to avoid a compiler error.
           I'm not loading any Storyboards -- so why does this have to be here too? */
    required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
}