Part of my problem is the very concept of "the masses". 250,000 people read the best-selling N American comics as most fans would have it. Think about that for a minute-- a quarter of a million people support an artform in the N American market, and that's before we even get into debates about taste. Millions of people read comics regularly in Europe, Asia, and South America. Millions, and most of them don't care about Secret Wars or Batman.
That doesn't mean that material is good or even should be read, but that it exists and people are buying it. Why don't people buying comics in the N American market acknowledge that Raina Telgemeier is by far the best selling creator of comics in the Anglophonic market? The "masses" buy her books, but they aren't the same comic buying "masses". The 250,000 people that buy Secret Wars don't know that she exists, but she's sold a lot more copies of her work than any given monthly N American comic. More people read Peter Kuper's work through the New Yorker than the best selling N American comic books any given month. Who are these "masses"?
It's not even an us vs them proposition. If you like good comics, they are out there. You can read them. It's not some precious subculture. Stop treating it as such.
(And yeah, MRP, I know I'm yelling at the wrong person.)