The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel

by Fred Fordham (Adapted by), F. Scott Fitzgerald, Aya Morton (Illustrations)

A gorgeously illustrated, first-ever graphic novel adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s beloved American classic.

First published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has been acclaimed by generations of readers and is now reimagined in stunning graphic novel form. Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and the rest of the cast are captured in vivid and evocative illustrations by artist Aya Morton. The iconic text has been artfully distilled by Fred Fordham, who also adapted the graphic novel edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Blake Hazard, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great-granddaughter, contributes a personal introduction.

This quintessential Jazz Age tale stands as the supreme achievement of Fitzgerald’s career and is a true classic of 20th-century literature. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy is exquisitely captured in this enchanting and unique edition.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Fiction, Comics, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Adult

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2020

Reviews

[Taylor Reid]

I’ve made no secret that I’m a chronic Great Gatsby rereader. I have many different copies of it around my house, in multiple formats. This past month, my friends and I started a virtual book club where we read “Classics” (which we are defining very ambiguously). Our first read was Gatsby and I loved it all over again. But I also got to experience it in a completely different way. It's been turned into a graphic novel by Aya Morton and Fred Fordham. And it brings the entire story to life in such vivid, quick-turning pages. The parties, the dresses, the mansions, the green light—all illustrated here beautifully. And it still packs the wallop that the original does!

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

After reading Beautiful Little Fools, a reimagining of "The Great Gatsby," I remembered that I had this beautiful graphic gathering dust. This would be a fine time to dust that off and give it a read, I thought. So I did. The artwork and feel of the graphic novel are beautifully done -- 5 stars to Aya Morton. I loved everything about the visuals from the texture of the cover to the panels inside. Reminiscent of the artwork from that era and simply gorgeous. The adaptation of the classic text by Fred Fordham was a bit choppy. There were some instances when it seemed like the text and graphic panels were out of sync, so 3 stars for that piece. Overall, very much worth a read especially if you are a graphic novel fan.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy----they smashed
Up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made-------

I'm not a big graphic novel reader, in fact I've read so few I know this is only my fifth endeavor. I enjoyed it, the illustrations were gorgeous, soft pastels and I did get the feel of the time period. Of course, one doesn't get the depth of the novel, but this rendering did a good job of condensing the story but giving enough so one receives the bones of the story. I was afraid the emotion would be lacking,and while not as intense, it was still there. Think this was well done. May try another graphic of a classic, much better than the cliff notes that we had to waddle through.

ARC from Scribner.

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always love seeing different renditions of The Great Gatsby, one of my favorite classic novels ever. I love revisiting the story and seeing how people interpret a story I’m so familiar with.

This graphic novel was very similar to the 2013 adaptation in terms of aesthetic and the way the story is structured in a swift way that feels as though the story is full of jump-cute between scenes, moving quickly from one setting to the next. The art style is beautifully colored with pastels and has a quintessential 20s art style that encompassed the mood of the story very well— although I do wish the characters’ facial expressions were more pronounced and there was more diversity in skin tones and facial structures because Tom, Gatsby, and Nick looked too similar to one another.

I would say, if one hasn’t read The Great Gatsby, they wouldn’t get the full effect and appeal of the story from this graphic novel because it is choppy and sometimes the dialogue didn’t flow as well as it did as a full-fledged novel, but I enjoyed returning back to the storyline in a different medium because I am so familiar with it.

There are pros and cons to this adaptation. I enjoyed it simply for the ability to see a favorite story of mine through another lens.

[The Artisan Geek]

6/7/20
Surprisingly, I feel rather indifferent to this one. The art fit the story perfectly and it held my attention long enough to finish the story. Now having seen the movie and read the graphic novel, I'm not too sure if I'd still be interested in reading the entire novel, but who knows? Perhaps if I try and read more of Fitzgerald's work.

5/7/20
Scribner was so kind to gift me a copy of the graphic novel :) I haven't read the novel, but I have watch the movie adaptation and read a chunk of letters exchanged between Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

You can find me on
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[Alex.andthebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

Uważam, że warto znać powieść przed powieścią graficzną, bo może odebrać nieco głębi samej historii… ale kreska znakomita. Idealnie oddaje klimat art deco

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fred Fordham does a good job of distilling an American classic to the drawn page. I still would suggest reading the original first but this is a good followup for fans of the source material. Aya Morton's art has a look reminiscent of the 1920's. The pale colors and simple faces remind me of advertisements or movie posters of the time.

Received a review copy from Scribner and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of two comics adaptations of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby I just read after having re-read the original, which I love, and as I anticipate reading with a bunch of future English teachers in January 2022. So this is a good book, though it feels to me still like a kind of summary of the novel, retaining key lines, the text adapted by Fred Fordham, whose adaptation of another often required high school English text I liked a little bit more. But the language is the central strength of the book, not the plot, and much of that is of course missing. Still, this is good as one kind of visual companion to the original that would be useful to younger readers.

I like the pastel coloring softening the digital art by Aya Morton, which otherwise felt a little abstract or coolly distant to me (I like very much her illustration work for Anne Opotowsky's His Dream of the Skyland). I miss here the (ironic) warmth here that Nick Carraway's narration provides for all these cold and selfish and self-destructive rich people.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good adaptation, but I think some of the magic of the original is lost when so much of the language and the writing is not present. I don't know how enjoyable this would be if you haven't read the original and can use that to fill in the gaps.

[Brogan Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmmmmm well, this didn't make me want to read The Great Gatsby - it made me glad that I hadn't read it if I'm being completely honest. I've never felt so bored reading a graphic novel until this one. The illustrations by Aya Morton were very unique and fit with the story being set during the 1920s, but other than that, I just really didn't like this.

[Martyna Antonina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 ☆

Ta powieść graficzna sprawiła, że jeszcze bardziej uświadomiłam się w swojej miłości do oryginału. Jest świetnym dopełnieniem powieści Fitzgeralda - odrzuca przerysowanie i emanuje esencją cynizmu i zagubienia, tak podskórnie charakteryzującą "Gatsby'ego". Dopiero teraz, po odświeżeniu tej historii czuję, jak bardzo jest ona samoświadoma i jak wszechstronny potencjał skrywa w swojej niepozorności. Dogłębnie wzruszający portret ludzkości, która tamuje uczucia blichtrem i wyrafinowaniem. A w chwili ostateczności porzuca emocjonalną pamięć na rzecz zadufanej iluzji.
Miałam łzy w oczach. A to duży komplement.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading The Great Gatsby today. I also read Beautiful Little Fools and am reading The Chosen and the Beautiful. So, I’m definitely getting a feel for all Great Gatsby.

This was the most disappointing. The story I thought was well done and did a good job bringing the book to life. The problem I had was the graphic artwork. I just thought it feel flat. The vivid pictures and the expressions of the characters, I thought were lacking. The characters I often had a hard time telling apart.

So, this was not up to par for me. It didn’t capture the book too well. It was ok, but I think needed more.

[Marta Demianiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie wiem, czy dobrze zrozumiałam tę książkę czytając ją w oryginalne Fitzgeralda, dlatego duży plus dla graficznej adaptacji, która pomogła mi ułożyć sobie historię Gatsby’ego, Daisy i Toma w głowie.

[Gerardine Betancourt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for received this beautiful and gorgeous Arc I'm so happy and blessed right now.
This novel never gets old. The artist's illustrations were beautiful.
If you are new to this story or if you already know everything about Gatsby, I recommend that you grab this beauty because i know I'll will.

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not even going to pretend to understand this one. I decided to give the graphic novel a try because the original really didn't hold a lot of interest for me. I thought this would be a great way to the gist of the book without having to force myself to read it. Well, I was either really wrong, or this book really sucks.

I know that the writing itself was supposed to be a big part of the book. And, you get some of that in this one. But all in all, I rate my books based on how much I enjoyed them. And I hated this one. There was not a single likable character in this story and the plot itself was boring and pointless.

Sorry to those who enjoyed this story, but not for me. At all.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

It was very nice to see this great and famous American classic turned into a graphic novel. I appreciated how faithful this book was to the original material and also how some quotes of the book were actually included here. I expected a little more from the art, even though it was all drawn very nicely I would have preferred to see more vibrant colors instead of the ones that were chosen, but that's just a personal preference.

[Tomasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fabuła Gatsby’ego dobrze sprawdza się w formie graficznej i styl ilustratorki świetnie oddaje klimat tej powieści, ale na dłuższą metę okazuje się męczący i nieczytelny. Postaci mają takie same twarze i różnią się wyłącznie ubiorem oraz fryzurą, przez co czasem ciężko jest ogarnąć, co w ogóle dzieje się w danej scenie. Historia zaadaptowana poprawnie, jednak okazuje się, że nadal nie jestem jej fanem- lektura oryginału wciąż przede mną, więc ciężko mi porównać bezpośrednio do dzieła Fitzgeralda, ale mnie nie zachwyca. Wrócę na pewno za jakiś czas.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

For those who like pictures with their stories, this retelling of the Great Gatsby will deftly bring readers into Gatsby's world. The characters and the feel of the time period come to life with beautiful illustrations and a compelling, well written story. Highly recommend this for classic and graphic novel lovers. – Jennifer K.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love THE GREAT GATSBY and when I saw Scribner was releasing this one on June 30th, I had to have it. I’ll get my preorder in here shortly, but until then all I have to say is that if you’re a lover of Gatsby you’re going to want this. The art style and coloring is so tasteful and beautiful. The attention to detail is incredible (minus the characters faces… don’t ask me what it is but I was not a fan of it.) Everything else, yes. What I really loved was how true to the original it was without being an exact replica. Included within the new text are some of the original lines too and the lines chosen were perfect. They made my heart flutter and reignited my love for this novel. It’s by no means a replacement, but it held its own. I’ll be happy to have this gem on my shelf. I think the finished product will be even more stunning.

[Blair Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the novel and the graphic novel chapter for chapter. It was a neat experience, and it really enhanced the reading experience.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I teach "The Great Gatsby" every year I teach juniors. I find the language rich, the story and setting engaging, and the themes/social commentary particularly useful in the classroom. The text can be challenging for a small group of students, so I've been dying to get my hands on a decent graphic novel version. And 2020 has blessed us with two!

Where this graphic novel differs from others is its inclusion of a decent chunk of the text from the original novel. I was surprised to see what made the cut, and shocked to see not much didn't. This is particularly helpful in a classroom setting when teaching graphic novels; too often I find myself having to sacrifice too much of the original text to make it worthwhile teaching it in this format. I think this version balances what teachers (and lovers of the original text) need and want with the genre format well.

Where this book didn't work for me was the art. With exception of a few beautiful splash pages, I found the art didn't intrigue me or enhance the story in any way. There were a lot of missed opportunities from the textual imagery to the visual imagery, and some missteps (eyes of T.J. Eckleberg were pretty bizarre). The character faces were flat (perhaps reflecting their characters, but I'm guessing not), and I couldn't stop seeing Daisy's character as an exact replica of Princess Di.

I think this would work well for students who struggle with understanding the text of the novel form in a clear way. I can foresee many English teachers being happy with this compromise and willing to adapt it for their curriculum

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge fan of The Great Gatsby; even huger fan of Fred Fordham's previous graphic adaptation, To Kill a Mockingbird. Not so huge a fan of the two combined, unfortunately.

One big knock against this Great Gatsby is that Fordham is off art duties. In his place, we have Aya Morton, who draws characters as washed-out mannequins. It's pretty at first and does fit the '20s setting, but after a while you really just want these characters to emote, damn it, and instead they're stuck in their bland poses.

Another knock: To Kill a Mockingbird (the novel) offers a simple, engaging story that's told with few rhetorical flourishes. That's not the case for The Great Gatsby (the novel), which is filled with beautiful, complex language that defies adaptation. When Fordham uses the exact text of the book, it feels out of place, like it floated in from another story.

The main thrust of The Great Gatsby is still in the graphic adaptation, but all the nuance is lost. My recommendation: admire the gorgeous cover and then go read the prose novel.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of the original novel, but I thought I'd give this a go since it turned up at the local library. I shouldn't have bothered. Even in graphic novel format this book is filled with one of the most unlikable cast of characters I've come across. What a bunch of losers.

Art, color palette, fonts -- none of them were particularly appealing either, though that could just be my mind souring on them due to their relation to this story.

[Mª João Monteiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li o Gatsby original no século passado e não gostei muito. Continuo a não gostar, mas agora valorizei as ilustrações e sei mais coisas sobre a época e o estilo literário. É a história de um homem que aproveita as circunstâncias para se reinventar devido a uma paixão. É uma história triste debaixo dos loucos anos 20 e de uma alegria sem sentido, só por se estar vivo depois de uma guerra que abanou o mundo. Nada depois seria igual.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh yeah that's right - the public domain rights for Great Gatsby began January 1st of this year - so we should definitely expect more adaptations and mashups of this work to come.

To me, the graphic novel adaptation of The Complete Don Quixote is the gold standard of literary to comics. This adaptation of The Great Gatsby felt to me like some totally fine art paired with some of the nicest sentences from the original book, but as a whole it didn't really do much for me.

[kamila gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t even begin to describe how much Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby means to me as a novel. I have considered it to be my favorite novel for about five years now, finding the array of characters to be among some of the most captivating in literature. Reading it as a graphic novel has certainly added to my love for it, as Aya Morton explored the complexities within each character in her beautiful and delicate illustrations. Plus, this book was a gift from my good friend Marisa, and I will treasure it always.

[Amélie Boucher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid adaptation; however, I didn't love the art style. The Great Gatsby is a flamboyant and vibrant story of decadence, and yet the colors were muted, quite contrasting with the tone of the story.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always so hard to rate adaptations like this.

The curmudgeonly/snobbish side of me is irritated our culture has to constantly remake things when there is already a perfectly wonderful (well, usually wonderful. sometimes maybe just assumed to be wonderful) original version of a book or movie or song or whatever.

The kinder, more creative, and probably more correct side of me is happy to accept any and all adaptions on an original because it opens something to a larger audience and gives authors/artists a chance to put their own spin on it. After all, basically none of my fourth grade students are ready to read Anne of Green Gables without lots of assistance (maybe as like a bedtime story, which is how I first read it) but they all love Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel (and I do too). A small part of me is sad knowing many or even most of them may never take the time to step up to trying the chapter book. But a bigger part of me is happier that although time passes on and so much changes, her story still proves to be relevant and fun for young girls.

Anyways. Gatsby. I don't really have strong feelings about Gatsby one way or the other. I read it in maybe my late teens or early 20s. Old enough to get at some of it, but still too young to fully get at what I thought and what it all meant. Now I get the meaning more behind it and have learned a lot more about the book/Fitzgerald, but never really had a strong feeling about the actual book when I read it.

I never re-read it (keep meaning to). But I feel like in the years since, I have constantly read essays about it or seen it referenced somehow, or was watching the 2013 movie version (I love that version, I don't care what anyone says). I actually just watched the movie with Leo on New Year's Eve because it seems like the perfect NYE movie. Point being, when a story is that widely known and all the little details are saturated so deeply in your brain (the green light! the famous last line! the symbolism! etc) it's really hard to evaluate the story with a fresh eye and figure out if you actually like it or what it means to you personally (if anything).

So. For what this was, I did enjoy it. The art was beautiful and it (seems) the author kept many of the most important and beautiful lines and phrases. I loved how they were incorporated into the art. I love that this will keep the story fresh and relevant for a whole group of readers who don't want to get to the actual book yet (and maybe never will).

It's just very hard to rate because I still heard Tobey Maguire as Nick narrating the entire thing, and I saw many of the scenes exactly as I just saw them in the movie, almost as if they were taking the place of the pages. Not the author's fault, but can we have too much of one story or adaptation? Can it become pointless to keep redoing it?

[kam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.45
Tyle punkcików w mojej głowie dostaje ten komiks. Większość zdobył za tekst Fitzgeralda w opracowaniu Fordhama, bo ilustracje Morton niestety były nieczytelne. Tłumy na przyjęciach czy niedbałe szczegóły budynków wyglądały ładnie i robiły klimat, ale te twarze... Trudno było odróżnić od siebie bohaterów i trudno było czytać ich emocje. Za to kreacja nadrabiała i to kolejny plus tekstu... Cóż. Można przeczytać i jest podczas lektury miło, ale szybko się zapomina.

[aqilahreads · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh no :((((

it was kinda all over the place & i dont quite understand what i just read. also its adapting one of the classics - so this can be hard to interpret in a graphic novel. as someone who have yet to read the original novel, i was really clueless on the storyline and not too sure if i would like the original novel too now. looks like its something that i wouldnt really enjoy heh