This is probably responding to your original question more than this specific one, so forgive me. My take is that CyberFrog is mostly spectacle. Ethan is the most successful person in his field by orders of magnitude and that is interesting to see. It's fun to watch him create toys, blacklight posters, hoodies, etc. and to see what crazy shit comes next. Now, that being said, I think the whole thing does actually hinge on the product being good. Blood Honey and 1998 were good reads. Not groundbreaking, but they have enough to keep people wanting more. CyberFrog is, by Ethan's admission, basically just a solo Ninja Turtle, but that keeps him far enough away from being just another generic superhero to maintain interest. I think CyberFrog is just the right property to make all of this work. Iconic and recognizable character design, simple plot and themes, and just enough mystery and promise of future revelations to keep people coming back. This wouldn't work with a property like, let's say Graveyard Shift, because Graveyard Shift doesn't really have these elements and honestly isn't very good, despite the relative hype behind it and being one of CG's biggest books.
But back to the spectacle. This also applies to the story and the characters themselves. Ethan has a pretty cool rogues' gallery from the 1990s books and people want to see those characters brought into the new story. Ethan plays up these characters we know nothing about and shows off a cool design, like Rumblebee, and people speculate wildly as to how he'll play into the story, fueled by the "Boba Fett" comparison and the likelihood of him teaming up with CF to take on the Vyzpzz (and people love a rivalry that becomes a tenuous partnership, ala something like Goku and Vegeta). That's part of the draw and part of the fun for the customer. And Ethan knows exactly what he's doing. Salamandroid is a fan favorite and Ethan strings us along with "what happened to Sal???" for a couple of years, for example.
Of course, Ethan's persona is integral to all of this. He's a talented showman and he knows how to entertain a large audience. He has something that I would call "calculated humility." He allows himself to be made fun of and doesn't (usually) take insults too personally, at least on the outside. I rarely see him get visibly offended or upset, barring the obvious examples like last year's split with WC and some of the shit that followed. Allowing yourself to be beaten up a bit is endearing to the audience. Last week he was on Cecil's channel and showed a bunch of old videos of him playing piano and singing, all under the guise of "oh no this is so embarrassing that someone found these." Don't know if that was legit or not;
@FROG can confirm or deny. Regardless, those kinds of things make you seem more human and relatable, and Ethan knows that.
Would depend on the gayop. I think lots of people were involved in that kind of shit in the earlier days of CG. However, I think Ethan is probably one of the people who realized how fucking gay that whole charade is and distanced himself from it. CG isn't the small circle that it was in the beginning and I honestly do think there is too much going on at this point for Ethan to be aware of it all. Plus, his business has obviously expanded tremendously and continues to do so, which leaves him less time for internet bullshit. I think some of the stuff that went down in early CG was definitely shady. I also think Ethan has probably unfairly ousted some creators with the help of WC gayops. Regardless, I think much of Ethan's following at this point will be pretty unwavering. Speaking for myself, I contend that no one is above reproach and there have been times where I've stopped following Ethan for certain periods. But I like his products and I feel that I understand who he is well enough to not have any false pretenses about him. I don't hold him to the standard of being a "human sunbeam" who will lift everyone from the darkness of the mainstream. But what he has built is interesting to watch for many reasons.
