It’s well known that anime, sci-fi and comic books fans have the potential to be scarier than hell, but that same insanity can be harnessed into sales if donw right. Once again, the comic book industry - as well as the movie, TV and music industries - would do well to follow the leader in corraling fandom energy into increased sales and profits. Do I believe that this will actually happen? The Magic 8-Ball says “Outlook not so good.”

It was 2 a.m. when John Ledford heard the banging at his door. Stumbling from bed on that night in the fall of 1999, he threw on a robe over his boxers and opened the door of his Houston apartment to a twentysomething guy with glasses and a face full of freckles. Ledford was about to tell him he had the wrong apartment when the stranger launched into a speech. At that moment, Ledford knew: This visit was no accident. This stranger was an otaku.

Translated literally, the word is Japanese for “your household.” But for obscure reasons, otaku morphed in modern Japan to connote a scarily hard-core fan, a nerd obsessed with a hobby to the point of unhealthiness. In the U.S. the otaku’s infatuation is focused on anime—the Japanese style of animation that typically features saucer-eyed women and giant mechanical men. American otaku wear the label with pride.

The specimen at Ledford’s door was going on about an anime TV show called Neon Genesis Evangelion, a series about humans fighting an alien invasion. He had a problem with the ending. “I don’t like the direction you went in and I want you to go back and fix it,” he demanded. Ledford explained that he didn’t make the show and closed the door. He was rattled by the nocturnal visit—later that morning, leaving for Japan, he called his assistant and told her to find him a new place to live. But he should have known: That’s what happens when your customers are wild with desire.

Ledford is CEO of AD Vision, the largest importer and distributor of anime in the country. ADV may not have made Evangelion, but it did get the show into the hands of American otaku. “The hard-core fan base is very rabid,” says Ledford. “They will get behind you as a company. You don’t have to spend a dollar in marketing; you just have to be friends with them.” (With the understanding that any true friendship needs limits—and visiting hours.)

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