El retrato de Dorian Gray

by Roy Thomas (adaptación), Sebastian Fiumara (dibujo)

Contiene Marvel Illustrated: The Picture Of Dorian Gray 1-6 USA.
La adaptación al cómic del clásico inmortal escrito por Oscar Wilde. El artista Basil Hallward ha retratado a Dorian Gray, un misterioso personaje que se lamenta de que vaya a perder su juventud, mientras la imagen del cuadro permanecerá siempre joven. Su deseo es que ocurriera al revés, que fuera la pintura la que acusara el paso del tiempo. Y de alguna extraña manera, eso es lo que empieza a ocurrir. Una novela de oscuras maravillas que cobra vida, a través de los ojos del veterano Roy Thomas y el talento de Sebastian Fiumara (El asombroso Spiderman).

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Fiction, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics, Literature

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2008

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty quick read at around 150 pages of dialogues & illustrations. I thought the art work on the characters, backgrounds & locations were really beautifully done. I would definitely describe this illustrated work of a classic as a page turner & I’m looking forward to reading more novels from the Marvel Illustrated series. My small suggestions of making the book better is to include chapters/sections numbers & page numbers. I think that would make reading this book a little more enjoyable. Overall, a pretty cool reading experience.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art in this was fantastic, and i'm a huge fan of this story in general.

[Dianne Gothly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realmente sorprendida por la adaptación de la novela original. Conserva sus puntos importantes con un buen desarrollo de los personajes, muy fiel a la historia original. Se ve el descenso de Dorian desde que conoce a Henry y en lo que empieza a convertirse. Aunque el final me pareció apresurado y omiten detalles que para mi eran de suma relevancia en la novela.
Las ilustraciones me encantaron y su estilo encaja muy bien con lo que es la novela en sí y toda su "aura oscura".

Para quienes jamás han leído Dorian esta una excelente adaptación por la cual pueden empezar para familiarizarse con la historia antes de leer el libro completo.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best possible graphic adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s not artistically challenging, perhaps, but it is extremely well-done. I might even say beautifully done, if I weren’t afraid of embarrassing the Marvel guys.

[Olivia D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this alot more on my 3rd read through of it.

[vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A synopsis, rather than adaptation. Dumbed down, which was hard to avoid, but also taking many interesting thoughts out of context and using them only as catchy one-liners, but they just sound pretentious this way as a result. Not that fin-de-siecle isn’t pretentious on its own a little bit, but still - the original does it with more grace, and after all the whole thing is supposed to be about appearances right? ;) This version doesn’t explain any significance of the story, hedonism, dandyism, the meaning of the book lord Henry gave to Dorian, Tannhauser etc. Just explains some “tougher” words in the glossary (which shouldn’t be seen as tough, really, except some older names for carriages…). The art is rather mediocre in general and feels rushed. Sometimes it’s great (dynamic, dramatic scenes, horses, backgrounds, lord Henry, Basil), sometimes it’s very weak - especially Dorian’s portrait is meh, but also female characters that look pretty much the same. A scene where a lady is supposed to look 18 years older and ruined by Dorian, but looks his age and like all other young ladies in the novel was particularly funny, rather than dramatic because of it.

Still, I complain but had fun reading all 6 chapters. Not great, not terrible. I’d give it 2.5*, but since I can’t and also respect authors for a lot of work they had to put into it, 3* ;)

[Bre · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, the art is AMAZING. I haven’t read the original book, but I feel like the art definitely adds to the story. I was actually so disturbed by how the painting looked at the end before Dorian died. I heard a lot about this being a very good classic book and Dorian and Basil being gay icons so I thought hmm well this will be a good gay love story right?? WRONG. Dorian did Basil so dirty!! Like you’re the one who wished to stay youthful it’s not Basil’s fault the thing that YOU wished for came true!! Also RIP Sylvia she shouldn’t have gone out like that. And fuck Dorian because..well he’s a childish dumbass who made awful decisions and looked like a wrinkled piece of paper when he died because that’s what he was. A useless piece of GARBAGE. Sorry just had to go on a little hate rant. Anyway in the future I definitely want to read the original book, but this was great!

[Carol McKnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never read a graphic novel before, and this was a dark way to start, but having said that, Dorian Gray was a dark character. The art was very attention grabbing, and in some ways took my attention away from the words. I needed the narrative to tell the story, but this story is about the picture of Dorian Gray and it was helpful to have the art to show the way the picture changed, and how that affected Dorian. He was not a likeable character at all, very self-absorbed and mean.

[Nilson Trejo Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una de las mejores adaptaciones al arte secuencial de un clásico de la lectura de Oscar Wilde. Los personajes están muy bien ilustrados, pero el real protagonista es sin lugar a dudas es el cuadro 🖼 de Dorian Gray: la evolución de sus cambios es presentada en cada número y refleja con muchos detalles la vida y pecados de Dorian.

[Peter Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides the titular "picture," I didn't think the original novel necessarily leant itself easily to a visual medium like a film or graphic novel, with its long verbal ramblings of Lord Henry, but I appreciated how this Marvel-released adaptation cut out some of the "fat" and brought this gothic Victorian tale to life in a fairly straightforward way that still remains faithful to the story.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to the original work this one really left a lot to be desired. It was barely a synopsis of the true story. I enjoyed the art and the depictions, and if it were my first encounter with the story I think it would move me to read the full work, so in that regard it succeeds I believe.

[Living Fiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, an accurate rendering of Dorian's blue eyes and blonde hair. Everyone else is precisely how I pictured them. The way they aged up Lord Henry was excellent, too. And the subtle changes in the portrait. I read it all in one sitting!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-done adaptation!

[Teisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful adaptation of a classic.

[Marlowe Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first rate adaptation of Wilde's novel.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story with an intriguing concept.

[Trina Dubya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot say whether this is a good adaptation of the original story, because I haven't read it. But the artwork is first-rate.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good graphic adaptation

[Wendopolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a graphic novel--well-done.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorian's an asshole.

[Wenceslado Caal Chub]

It's a good book.

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the witty repartee is reproduced verbatim, sometimes rather cackhandedly. Faithful to the plot, and quite well illustrated but the text is ridiculously small and I struggled to decipher it.

[Natasha Cowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphic novel adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s wonderful novel.

[kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago in 8th grade and i remember not being able to put it down. The illustrations are beautiful.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adapting an inscribed work to one with pictures isn’t as straightforward as it would appear, but the author and the illustrator have done an incredible job here. Since they hewed with utter fidelity to the written story, tackling Oscar Wilde’s only novel demanded certain constraints and allowed certain liberties at the same time.

One of the problems of Wilde’s novel is that there is little in the way of “action”. There is a lot of conversation, witty and irreverent in the Wildean style, and a great deal of philosophizing. But the adaptor, Roy Thomas, knew when to allow Wilde’s words to soar with their accustomed grace and when to insert his own additions. E.g., Sybil Vane’s acting in Shakespeare is shown, not told, as the illustrator depicts her in various roles with Shakespeare’s text given with it (although there are a couple of errors here: as Ophelia, she speaks lines given to Laertes and as Imogen she appears to mumble in a drunken stupor, which isn’t the scene as Shakespeare wrote it). The text of a certain book Lord Henry gives to Dorian is accompanied by scenes of depravity, rampant sexuality, immoral excess, portraits of great men and women, et al.

Sebastian Fiumara’s sumptuous illustrations meld themselves with utter fidelity to Mr. Thomas’s adaptation and Oscar Wilde’s original text. They also darken imperceptibly from the bright floral colors and patterns in the early parts of the book to somber colors of black, brown, gray and sepia—a visual representation of the blackening of Dorian’s soul.

As always, we are left with a moral conundrum: is Dorian’s downward spiral the result of an evil that lies inherently within himself alone or is he simply the same as other men? Is Lord Henry solely responsible for leading Dorian down dark paths or would Dorian have strayed there on his own? We know from certain passages in the novel and this graphic version that Henry is eager to stamp Dorian with his thoughts and sinful influence and that Basil was initially loath to let Lord Henry meet with Dorian in order to spare the youth from the older man's louche opinions. But Basil was also terrified the first time he felt Dorian’s eyes on him, intuitively certain that Dorian would somehow consume him.

Lord Henry simply believes that he is revealing the “real” Dorian, thereby absolving himself of responsibility, just as Dorian claims he’s not responsible for the various people who have been ruined by association with himself. Basil also believes that he has captured the “real” Dorian in his painting and, once he’s finished painting it, loses interest with the flesh-and-blood model and absently allows him to go off with Lord Henry.

So who is the evil angel here? Dorian, Lord Henry or Basil Hallward? Since all three men play pivotal roles in the drama, it is an absorbing question with no easy answer. So this graphic adaptation is no lightweight fare but a scintillating and riveting creation of art, no less worthy than its literary origin.

[Tina Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

So while I did enjoy rereading this and pairing it with the book, this time I was a little more bothered by the omitted dialogue. Because the part this edition left out? The section where Basil confesses why he wouldn't want to show the painting and, ultimately, admits his feelings for Dorian. Which is a section I feel is SO IMPORTANT. And I hate that this edition just completely skips over that part. So dropped a star for that.

Other than that, the illustrations are great and I enjoyed giving this a reread. But I'm glad I read the real book with this so I didn't miss anything from this story. Highly recommend doing that if you're going to be reading this since it does omit a rather important scene!

original review, read from: Jan 23-30, 2015:
I have an undying love of graphic novels. I'll just start with that. Since you should probably know that anyway.

So, one day I went to Hastings. And when I go to Hastings, I always find myself in the graphic novel section, staring longingly at all the pretty things I can't afford. And that day I just happened to spot this little gem. And then I basically did a triple take because I couldn't be sure if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. I was. Oh believe me, I was. (I won't bore you with the details about how I'm super short and of course this novel was on THE TOP SHELF and I had to find someone tall to grab it for me. And I also found the Three Musketeers and didn't I just say I wasn't going to tell you all of this??)

Okay so I found it. Dorian Gray as a graphic novel. But was it actually comparable to Wilde's brilliant novel?? Well, I decided to find out and so I read this one simultaneously with the actual novel. (Because this oddly wasn't divided into chapters so I would read a chapter in the novel and then read in this until it ended in the same place as the chapter. And, honestly, it was a little easier that way??)

And you know what?? It was pretty close. I was so, so pleased. There were only a few bits of dialogue left out (which, if I'm not mistaken, is dialogue that is only in the uncensored version of the actual novel) and overall, it was extremely well done.

So this book was seriously actual gold. It combined one of my favorite novels with one of my favorite mediums. And now I basically want to read all my classics with a sidedish of graphic novel, haha. And for a few classics that I've had trouble with in the past, reading this way honestly might be the answer.

I would completely and totally recommend this novel. It's honestly just wonderful, especially if you enjoy graphic novels. This one definitely does not disappoint.

[Herdis Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is one of my all-time favourite books, and I have long been curious to read this graphic novel adaptation.

It didn't disappoint, precisely, though I didn't love it quite as much as I had hoped I would.

The artwork is gorgeous, very detailed, and it doesn't shy away from portraying the gritty aspects of the original novel. Sometimes, however, I feel the illustrations become a tad "cartoonish", particularly during sequences that are meant to be tragic and dramatic.

Roy Thomas captures much of Wilde's irreverent philosophy well, although his characters become a tad bland. Again, some of it feels a bit cartoonish. I know Thomas has adapted other classics in similar ways, but it still seems like his style is better suited to material more related to the classic comic book (and, indeed, the grand majority of his work appears to have been in this genre).

My chief problem with Thomas' adaptation is that he completely ignores the queer elements of the tale. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was, in its original text, explicitly queer, though Wilde had to censor it in order to have it published. However, Basil's very obvious homoerotic attraction to Dorian is something that drives his fascination with him, and thus something that drives the plot itself, and Dorian, too, is supposed to break with the traditionally heteronormative.

Ignoring these important aspects of the plot is ignoring the book's very history, and this is, at best, a gross oversight, and at worst, homophobic.

Still, adapting a story like TPoDG is no mean feat, and I do think there is much to praise here. Thomas didn't, for instance, fall into the trap of focusing exclusively on action and excitement, but gives the philosophy and morality of the story plenty of room, managing to balance this with driving the story forwards.

Fiumara's illustrations are darkly evocative, and contribute to the frequently sinister, slightly disturbing mood of the story.

So if you, like me, are a big fan of the original, it is highly likely you will find this graphic novel adaptation interesting.

[Veron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will recommend this if you've already read the novel and just want to have some visualization. I think this captured the atmosphere of the story well, especially Dorian's descent as the pages got darker through the end.

[Godka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would say it's an OK adaptation. Not bad, not that good to be actually called good, it's just OK. The problem is that there's nothing special about it. Nothing that would make me want to read it more times or just flick through it again. And I must say I was looking forward to see Dorian Gray adapted as a comic book.

I think, that those who know the story or more specifically those who know the book, the text, and appreciate, if not adore, the brilliant original style of Oscar Wilde's writing, will be disappointed. Those who know the story, well, they can only find joy in the visual aspects, so the art is the main thing for them and the art is quite disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, it is quite good actually, but for a story like this I'd prefer something that would make your eyes bleed of pleasure. I′d love the art to be more experimental, macabre, gothic etc. It's a comic book adaptation of literature classic, you can't get better in the writing or the story (specifically when it's Oscar Wilde), but the art, the art should have been mind-blowing. It's not, unfortunately. It seems more like (very good) children's book illustrations.

I didn't find anything about it that would somehow please me as a reader, but it might be a good way to draw attention of people who haven't read the book yet. So if it should serve as a way to find out about Oscar Wilde and keep alive his works... that would be great.

[Jacki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: You know the classic story. A talented artist paints a beautiful portrait of a beautiful, innocent young man called Dorian Gray, but accidentally introduces said naif to a reprobate who leads him astray. However debauched and depraved Dorian's actions become, he himself always appears to be 18 and in perfect health. The portrait is affected by his choices, though, and changes over the years to show his the true, cruel face of his soul.

Verdict: Could be useful to attract new readers to the novella, but if you've already read the original, take a pass.

Yay!: The story arc is faithfully preserved in this retelling, and the pacing is just fast enough to be interesting. Some of Wilde's original text is kept or worked into the background. The prologue is absent, but a few lines of it are dropped as witticisms at parties.

Nay!: The art is flat and uninspired. The text adaptation is bland and most of Wilde's wit has been leeched out. This take on the favorite fails to breathe fresh air into an old tale yet borrows none of the original's grace.