Back in October, we spoke with writer Jeremy Holt about their then miniseries “Gatsby,” the 21st century reimagining for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby for the social media generation. Published by AWA Studios and featuring art by Felipe Cunha, “Gatsby” is a racially diverse, LGBTQ+ led retelling of the literary classic, exploring the original themes through a present day lens. But since that first interview, AWA has announced that Gatsby would be released as a single graphic novel, due out this May, compiling the story into one singular piece, complete with a foreword from Emmy Award winning producer/director Billy Porter.
We sat down with both writer Jeremy Holt and AWA Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Axel Alonso to talk about the book. The two of them discussed bringing the story into the present day, what changed, and what stayed the same. Even after nearly a century. We would like to thank both of them for their time.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Since this book was announced, you’ve made the decision to release it as a standalone original graphic novel. What prompted that decision?
Jeremy Holt: I can say that I really wanted to honor the source material. And because Fitzgerald’s work came out as a complete work of fiction, I definitely wanted to try and honor that, mirror it in some ways. This book obviously could work coming out as a monthly series. But I think it also works as a standalone graphic novel. And I’m really appreciative that Axel and everybody at AWA agree.
Axel Alonso: Jeremy and I wanted to make it a graphic novel. But then we were impatient to get it out. So we discussed it as a series. But at the end of the day, it really was meant to be a graphic novel. It’s not an adaptation of The Great Gatsby, it’s a reinterpretation of The Great Gatsby.
So you think it flows better, works better as a single piece, like The Great Gatsby?
JH: Yeah. And I think from a slightly practical standpoint, the reality is that people that are going to read this I’d imagine are probably fans of the novel. And I think it makes it easier for people to read our take on it if it’s available all in one shot rather than trying to track down single issues. From my experience, people who love classic literature aren’t necessarily popping into comic book shops every month. So to make it available at the end of May would also make a lot of sense.
Looking at the original work is there anything that stands out to you more? Things that in the last few months have become more relevant?
JH: I think it’s less to do with what’s in the book and it’s more about the timing of when people are going to get to read it. If it had come out back in the Fall, I don’t think we would have really been able to really take advantage of the diverse cast and have it come out during AAPI month, which is a really important time of the year. Having watched The Oscars and seeing what happens when people like The Daniels are allowed to just make the movies they want to make, tell their own stories. Their movie isn’t– it features immigrants, but is isn’t an immigrant’s story, which was really profound. Having seen that movie like seven times– big fan– reading back on what I did, I realized I wasn’t telling a story just to make it about people of color. But that the source material does lend itself to a more diverse cast. Because this is a contemporary retelling.
Between the two of you, what was the working relationship? What was the back-and-forth between you two as writer and editor?
JH: What’s really funny, and Axel didn’t know this until we had a panel at New York Comic Con, but Axel had found me… I feel like this might be true. Correct me if I’m wrong, Axel. But I think you found me through my other book, “Made In Korea,” that I did through Image.
Continued belowAA: “Made in Korea” for sure, yeah.
JH:We had connected over social media, so I saved his contact information. Which was, to be honest, quite a thrill for me. Because his reputation precedes him. And he called me to talk to me about “Made in Korea,” but also about other things. But it just happened to be during my grandmother’s funeral. I excused myself, because I don’t know when I’m going to get this call again. We had like an hour conversation. He asked what I was working on. And I had this project that no one was interested in. I spent over a year and a half pitching it and not a single response. So yeah… that’s how it started.
AA: I read “Made in Korea,” which I absolutely adored. I was drawn by the title. My wife is Korean. So that makes me part Korean [laughs]. My kids are Korean. So I was really fascinated by the topic. I read the book. I loved it. So when they pitched me “Gatsby,” I knew immediately I wanted to do it. There was no hesitation at all. I knew immediately I wanted to do this. The time is ripe to reinterpret an American classic in the modern world with a multicultural cast, gender fluidity, and all the rest. It really blew me away. I got onboard immediately. We talked and we just moved on from there. My editorial was very light along the process.
JH: When I had pitched it, I had three of the issues scripted, and just kept working from there. So it was a very seamless collaboration.
I think you just answered my next question [laughs]. You’re taking The Great Gatsby, but you’re updating it, also making it more diverse. Even just moving it into the modern era dealing with The Internet. You’ve talked about the dark web, and a lot of social media culture. What drew you to that?
JH: I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but I had actually written this story as prose, young adult novel. And it was a more direct adaptation. I made all the cast of characters younger. But I really did keep a lot of the narrative intact. It felt sort of restrictive in that way. So when that didn’t go anywhere, and I still loved the concept of a young, diverse Gatsby retelling… When I decided to do this as a graphic novel, I decided to change it in ways that made it more interesting for me. Touching upon the major narrative plot twists and turns was important to keep it feeling like Gatsby. But how we get to those major narrative points changes because the characters are younger. In a lot of ways it was that retelling of a retelling, changing a lot of the characters that was a fun writing exercise for me.
Now this work is a singular piece. It’s based on a singular piece. Is this a world that you maybe want to explore more of? Or, like Gatsby, do you want this to be a sort of open-and-shut, exists in its own singular narrative parameters? Or is this something you would kind of like to look at from a different angle, explore different aspects that came out while you were working on this?
JH: That’s a good question. To me, honestly, I just saw it as a one-and-done kind of thing. But Axel, myself, and people at AWA had really interesting conversations about the world itself. And I really never thought of it as a world until it was described as such. I think there is actually a lot of room. Axel, what do you think?
AA: I agree. If this were to ever find life in other media, who knows what’ll happen? If. [laughs].
JH: But I think what would be fun to do is explore the world of “Gatsby.” It’s not really much of a spoiler to say what happens to Gatsby isn’t any different than what happened to the original character by the end. What his legacy is and how that lives on would be a really interesting space to explore.
Of course, I ask that while your editor is right over there.
Continued belowAA: Full disclosure: I read The Great Gatsby twice. The first time was in high school and I was bored to tears. I hated it. I could be less interested in a rich white man pining for his lost love. And the idea of reinvention was lost on me at the time. I read it again in my twenties and I got it. I saw the examination of class, and reinvention. And I saw the book for what it was. But what was still lacking for me was a world that was vital and relevant to today. That’s why I was drawn to Jeremy’s pitch. Because the world has changed. It is a very complex world. A world of social media. A world of gender fluidity. It’s a multicultural world now. And to bring all those stories made it relevant to me. And more exciting.
JH: And I would argue that the James Gatsby in my story differs from the Jay Gatsby in the original text because of a very different, more complex landscape regarding the proliferation of social media accounts, influencers, personalities. The original character didn’t have to contend with the internet. So when I was developing it, I wasn’t sure it was going to work because I wasn’t convinced that a 21st century Gatsby could exist. But I happen to have a friend from grade school who really has no digital footprint. Of course, if you have access to financial means to really solidify your invisibility, that helps. But once I figured out that a 21st century Gatsby not only could exist, but thrive in very different ways, that’s where the imagination kind of took over.
So you found even with one hundred years of social progress and technological progress, there’s still that core of the same story, that there’s the human element that doesn’t change?
JH: Absolutely. Like with reinvention– what I want to do with this story is that it isn’t bound to just the Gatsby character. In fact, anybody has the ability to reinvent themselves through social media. And I think that makes it in a way more relatable and interesting to new readers. Because you could be your own Gatsby in a way. Which is kinda fun to think about.
I did want to talk about the art. The artwork is absolutely stunning in his book.
AA: Felipe is amazing.
When you were getting these pages, what was your reaction?
AA: Felipe came as part of the project. He’s a collaborator. And I had no objection to that at all. When Jeremy submitted the pitch to me, they included some sample pages from Felipe. Which I liked, but didn’t love. But I saw potential. So we worked with Felipe on the outset to clean his style a little bit up. And it really came out in the pages. He did layouts for the storytelling beforehand that we approved in advance. And he exceeded my expectations. He’s amazing. Really clean storytelling.
JH: And he can draw anything that I threw at him. Which was so important. If I write in the script that a Range Rover pulls up to the house, you gotta be able to look at it and go “Oh! That’s a Range Rover!” Because it’s set in a very real world that isn’t too far off from where we are now, that realism needed to be there to ground the story for sure.
AA: He used all the references he was provided. All the references were put to good use.
“Gatsby” will be available in stores on May 10. You can preorder it here. For more information about the project, check out AWA Studios at AWAStudios.net, and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
