Meaning of コミックス派

Question

Context: a letter from a mangaka to her readers (whole letter here).

ファンレターをくださる子達は大抵コミックス派なのですが、出会い方は店頭でだったりインターネットでだったり本当に様々。

What is the meaning of コミックス派 in this sentence (and the general meaning of the whole sentence)? I think it could mean "manga/comics enthusiasts". Is my guess correct? Also, why are they opposed to people that she meets in shops or on the internet? My attempt:

Those who write me fan letters are mainly manga enthusiasts, but I meet many in shops and on the internet.

Answer 1

コミックス refers specifically to 単行本. See this definition from デジタル大辞泉

漫画本。雑誌掲載の連載漫画や、書き下ろしの漫画を、1冊の本にしたもの。

So コミックス派 refers to the fans who purchase the 単行本 as opposed to the fans who purchase the magazine (a.k.a. 雑誌派).

As in the answer @chocolate linked, ～が can be used to set the context for a further statement.

出会い方 means "ways of meeting", and refers to her fans "meeting" her work.

Overall, the mangaka is remarking on the many different ways her コミックス派 fans had discovered her manga.