What you say about commenting, makes a lot of sense.
I'm new here, but I could see how commenting a lot, regularly, and comments that can be funny, relevant, insightful, and/or educational can help get ones name across.
There's a YouTuber named Justin Y. who has no videos, but is on the verge of getting 500K subs. All cause of a history of commenting on lots of videos. Sometimes, I wish he put in more effort, but I have to give the man props for having the discipline for doing that daily for many months to get where he has gotten now.