Why do some comics seem to skyrocket in subs from out of nowhere?

[Momomori]

i know that some people are happy making their content regardless of subs and just TEACH MEEE HOWW .
im just not sure how comics that ive never seen on the trending or popular tab before seem to just sky rocket without being a staff pick or even on the daily snack, i just wonder how people seem to flock to comics that the tapas havent pushed in their face, i was just kinda wondering if anyone knew why that is

[punkarsenic]

comics that ive never seen on the trending or popular tab before seem to just sky rocket without being a staff pick or even on the daily snack

chances are, these comics are moving over from somewhere they already have a massive following, or being created (and promoted like hell) by someone who already has a massive following

[YangKoete]

I get what you mean, but overall it seems to be what the groups of people want most.

Overall appeal is one thing, but still there's promotion and having other followings already too, but there's one detail that just sticks out;

Not everyone knows. Seriously. You could have a random comic soar upward in subs and views and no one would know why!

[Testaccount]

I feel there are a few situations here when it comes to a story just doing well.

1. Like someone else mentioned, they could be bringing over their fanbase from another site.

2. They've networked with already popular artists. Maybe someone else did a shout out about their work.

3. They just happen to find the story unicorn.

For the last one, I feel that just happens. For whatever reason, their story just captures readers and then poof, they are popular.

There isn't much anyone can do about it

[Elm]

Marketing.

lol. If you want that kind of rush, you need to build up at least some kind of hype prior to it. A popular artist hinting at their comic release, a mailing list, an Instagram countdown. It's never really 'sudden' success. Just the right dominoes falling at the right time.

[joannekwan]

For whatever reason, their story just captures readers and then poof, they are popular.

Most of the time I've found is that they have an art and writing style that is appealing to a WIDE audience. Like it's just your easiest-to-digest look and feel about it.

[NanettesClouds]

It's never really 'sudden' success. Just the right dominoes falling at the right time.

^^^ Exactly this. There's stuff that happens behind the scenes that lead to these sorts of big spikes.

Neither of my two comics are "huge successes", But I did have a reasonably successful launch for both of them (considering I had no prior audience).
With DUST, (8 subscribers in its first week, and 32 subscribers over its first month, currently 74 subscribers) I had been posting here in the forums for about a month or two before launching it, I had built up a little bit of street-cred due to what I had to say, and when I announced that I had launched a minicomic a lot of the creators here that noticed me checked it out and started paying attention to what I was doing. @joannekwan was one of my first subscribers actually which was super cool.

With Skeletons in the Closet, (16 subscribers in its first week, and 47 subscribers over its first month, Currently 135 subscribers) I had a couple things,

1) friends who were very excited because I had been working on this thing for years, and it was finally a thing.
2) more forum hyping, I had talked a lot about it prior to its release, and some creators were very excited for it
3) I had hyped it up to the people that read dust (which had about 50-60 subscribers when I launched SitC.)
4) There was maybe an audience that found it due to it's old abandoned version? (I'm not sure about this one.)
5) I had started a hangout group to connect with other comic artists, and a lot of those people also checked out my work once it was available.

I suspect, that if I launched a new comic tomorrow, it would seem a little bit like an out-of-nowhere success, because most of my readers are very dedicated, and would probably at least check it out, if not subscribe, like, and comment. And due to the trending algorithm, it would launch pretty high up the page, because it wouldn't have had any existing subscribers weighing it down.

I've actually seen this happen a couple times with other creators, where they may have a large reader-base, but not enough momentum for their main series to hit trending, but when they launch a new series or a minicomic it launches to the top and does incredibly well.

Now imagine if I had an existing fanbase on tumblr? Or if I had been posting stuff on the forums for years? Or if I knew someone with a wide reach who was willing to hype stuff before I launched? Or if I was working in a more accessible genre? Or if a bigger creator gave me a shout out of some kind? Or if I bought add's on project wonderful/topwebcomic? Or If I migrated from a different platform?

Yeah.

TLDR. People with very successful launches are puppet masters pulling the strings in some way. It's very rarely a fluke.