The Great Gatsby #1

The Great Gatsby #1

Clover Press 2021

Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Adaptation by Ted Adams

Illustrated by Jorge Coelho

Lettered by Robbie Robbins

Whether you already love the book or are experiencing it for the first time, we’ve got you covered. It’s all here, the roaring ‘20s in all its glory --the decadent parties, the gangsters, the car crashes, the love triangle, and so much more. Young and old can appreciate the dedication of veteran comic creators, Adams and Coelho, as they adapt this American classic story into the classic American art form of comics.

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I was excited when I had seen this being offered as I hadn’t read it since one of my Secondary School’s English classes, plus seeing the Robert Redford film to boot. Now in a new comics format the story should translate in such a beautiful and striking way that i’m over the moon excited. This first issue surely doesn’t disappoint in the slightest either. Literature has this way of firing up the imagination and creativity within the reader as they words manage to decorate the minds eye with the elaborate clothing and settings and the comics medium takes that one step further as there are no limits to what the imagination can create.

I am thrilled with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented perfectly. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances continue to flesh them out beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, this world and these characters it’s easy to fall in love with them all over again or just discover/rediscover them again for the first time.

How we see the being structured and how the layers within are seen is incredibly well done. I’m impressed with Ted’s decisions on what needed to be in and what is edited out and how it still flows so amazingly well. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved. This really does capture the essence of the story already and I am looking forward to seeing what is going to happen next.

There is something absolutely amazing about how we see the interiors here. The linework we see through the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work in this style captures the whole 1920’s American feel. To see the city streets and the party or the ladies on the chaise lounge we get so much feeling and emotions coming at us and it’s brilliantly handled. How we see the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is rendered very nicely. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is gorgeous. How the various hues and tones within the colours are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour actually can and does work.

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What this issue does do for me personally is think of what else can be adapted, Anna Karenina, the Brothers Karamazov, David Copperfield and any number of classic literature offerings. This just reinforces my belief that with the proper creative team you can engage the reader and expand their minds, creativity and imagination far beyond what’s on the page and into a whole new realm of possibilities.