Music festivals routinely sell out to audiences before a single band has been announced to people who’ve largely only ever heard a few of the bigger names on the bill.
The herd mentality pays off in numbers. It’s “trending”.
The comic book artists (like Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, and writer/editors/fans like Roy Thomas) are ignored by 90% of the “fan” attendees. They plain don’t know who these people are.
At the Stan Lee “panels” the talk is 95% about the casting choices of the latest Marvel movie/tv show (which Stan is not even the deciding vote on).
Only established music festivals people know will draw in big acts sell out before artists are announced. And that’s because they have a known history, we know right now that Reading Festival 2015 will having amazing acts because it’s the Reading Festival and it ALWAYS has amazing acts.
Herd mentality is what makes popular culture profitable.
These folks aren’t fans of the comic books. Which doesn’t mean they aren’t fans. They’re just fans of a different section. If I went to a big convention I’d avoid all the Dr Who stuff because I don’t like Dr Who. I don’t go to the big conventions because I prefer the smaller more intimate old style. But I have lots of friends that head up for PCC, and a few that go to SDCC, they have fun, they’re fans, most of them even read.
Genre is a big world, it always was a big world but it is MUCH bigger than it was just 10 years ago. Nobody is a fan of all of it, and the geek cred arguments have frankly always been moronic. They’re fans, just not of the stuff you’re a fan of.