Size matters (to the photographers)
San Diego Comic-Con 2017 – Preview Night over in a Flash
San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, but Preview Night passed in a flash, or at least that’s how it felt. It seems that every year there are more people to stop by to say hi to as Preview Night is “Social Night” for me. It’s a night I don’t worry so much about what is happening. Nor what there is to see or even who/what to take photos of. Instead, I simply enjoy a chance to reconnect with the friends I’ve made over the years.
A few traditions went by the wayside this year. Scheduling prevented lunch and drink with Terry before the show, instead we connected on the show floor. Also, this ended up being the only time we connected all week at the show. There was the stop to see Jim Balent and Holly Golightly of Broadsword Comics. Then over to Billy Tucci before heading toward Boom! Studios, Top Cow, Skybound, IDW Publishing, Raffael Navarro, Mike Wellman and so many others. The highlight of the evening though may have been when I finally made it over to say hi to Monte Moore. There I also first laid eyes on the commission he had completed for me of a Jason Momoa inspired Aquaman. Monte knocked this commission out of the park. I had fallen in love with the scan he had sent me, but the original was even more breathtaking.
There was dinner with friends at Fox Sports Grill at the Hilton Bayfront (another tradition), then the Lyft back to the hotel to crash out for the night.
Preview Night is a nice warm up to the insanity that will follow for the next four days, but at the same time it goes by to quickly. Part of that is due to the crowds, I still remember the days where Preview Night had a show floor that had sparse crowds, with more people interested in hitting the “freebie” table (don’t even recall seeing one this year) and many attendees did not pick up a Preview Night ticket resulting in a very laid-back exhibit hall and there was plenty of time to interact with the artists/writers at their booths.
