The Great Gatsby #2

The Great Gatsby #2

Clover Press 2021

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Adapted by Ted Adams

Illustrated by Jorge Coelho

Colour Flats by Inés Amaro

Lettered by Robbie Robbins

In this second issue of the faithful adaptation we attend one of Gatsby’s famous and extravagant parties and see Gatsby make Nick an offer he should refuse.

It has been so long since I read this in High School that I’d forgotten most of it if I’m going to be honest. What this does is make me want to get a copy and read it again because while this was a much different time and the behaviour of some of the characters might seem a bit off or uncouth we have to remember that they didn’t know what we know now. What I love about Ted’s adaptation is that while at times it does feel a bit safe, that we don’t see the harshness of their words or actions that would cause some sensibilities to be offended, we still see some very questionable behaviour. It is the 1920’s after all and prohibition was in effect and cocaine was in everything and flappers were all the rage of the time and when you add in the modern thinking things really got incredibly interesting.

I’m very much enjoying 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 exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in highlighting their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more we are drawn into this strange life that Nick is living. He seems to live vicariously through others and yet he’s in the thick of it all and it’s an interesting thing to see unfold.

I’m mightily impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I also like how we see the layers within the story open up new avenues to be explored. Whether these avenues will be explored or not they manage to add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

The interiors here are absolutely gorgeous. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp and along with how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this amazing detail within the work is astounding. This is a stylised book and it’s nontraditional but it retains some of the feelings of the era and captures the whole mood, tone and feel beautifully. We see some brilliant use of backgrounds throughout the book as they enhance and expand the moments we see. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a brilliant eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination that we see through the fashion, architecture as well as the furniture are wallpapers is stunning to me. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational eye for how colour works.

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It isn’t that easy to adapt a novel into comics form as you have to decide what to keep and what can be omitted so a huge shout out to Ted for what he’s accomplishing here. The writing is smart and intelligently rendered and the characterisation is flawless while these interiors really bring this all to life incredibly well.