My post was more about his personality, as far as my guess goes... Regarding the money, though, I'm scratching my head over it. Personally, I can't believe he genuinely craves the money. Maybe he simply likes going out and being in the public eye, and he needs to promote his comic books - so basically, he's working to "remind people about himself" and stay visible to his target audience. And the money is just a nice, or not-so-nice, bonus.
Does anyone here have any reliable information on how much celebrities are paid for attending events like these, if they're paid at all?