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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

A Graphic Adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Novel

"Another near perfect adaptation from SelfMadeHero... The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a classy bit of work.

Edginton’s adaptation of Wilde’s work succeeds in capturing every essential element of Wilde’s masterpiece and placing it square on the page for Culbard to illustrate.

Culbard’s visuals... are absolutely exquisite, capable of handling brevity and wit on one page and chilling amorality on the next and there’s something in the way he captures facial expression that means he’s ideally suited to illustrating Wilde’s dark satire on Victorian values.

It’s a brilliant adaptation, retaining all the wonder of Oscar Wilde’s text and portraying the story in a fresh and new fashion. An excellent read."
- Richard Bruton, Forbidden Planet International blog (May 2009) Read blog

"suitably brittle and affectless"
- The Independent 'Best Graphic Novels of 2008' feature (December 2008)

"Films and graphic novels have a lot in common – indeed I could have used much of this as my storyboards. It's terrific to see Wilde's work in this form and it's a great way to reach a wider audience. The visuals are bold and striking and the text very skillfully abridged."

- Oliver Parker, director of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 'An Ideal Husband' and the forthcoming 'Dorian Gray'.

"Adapted by Ian Edginton and illustrated by Ian Culbard a fascinating and highly enjoyable adaptation of Wilde's popular classic tale. The black-and-white artwork is evocative and stylistically interesting – not surprising considering the artist has worked for several major comic book publishers as well as enjoying a career as an acclaimed animation director. One of several classics that have been produced by this up-and-coming London-based company, it illustrates nicely the growing interest in classically-themed graphic novels and manga."

- The Bookseller (August 2008)

“If it were I who was to be forever young and the picture that was to grow old!
...I would give my soul for that!”

This graphic novel rejuvenates Oscar Wilde’s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray, the story of a man who, exhilarated by his friends’ praise of his youth and beauty, asks to be able to retain them eternally. When he discovers that his wish has been granted and that the portrait painted by his friend Basil will age instead of him, Dorian’s naivety turns into narcissism and a feeling of invulnerability. Influenced by the decadent aristocrat Lord Henry, he soon embarks upon a career of selfish hedonism, breaking several lives on the way. But while Dorian thinks himself unaccountable for his sins, the portrait shows him the true darkness of his soul. Ultimately, Dorian will find out that although you can ignore your conscience for a while, it always catches up with you... In this dark tale, the master of provocation Oscar Wilde gives a modern turn to the Gothic genre, fusing the Faustian theme with moral ambiguity and dandy attitude.

THE ARTISTS

I. N. J. Culbard
As well as an artist, Ian Culbard is a writer, having been published by Dark Horse Comics in their New Recruits anthology in 2006, beating thousands of other submissions to claim his place, and has appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine. He is also an acclaimed animation director with considerable experience in directing commercials, developing projects for television and producing and directing short films. This is Culbard’s first full-length graphic novel.

Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton is one of Britain's best known writers, who has had a tremendous impact on the world of comics. He believes that the key to his success is based on good collaborations with other artists from the industry; most famously D’Israeli (Scarlet Traces) and Steve Yeowell (The Red Seas). He recently adapted Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders In the Rue Morgue (illustrated by D’Israeli) for SelfMadeHero’s graphic anthology Nevermore. In 2007 his graphic novel Scarlet Traces: The Great Game was nominated for Best Limited Series and Best Writer at the prestigious Eisner Awards.

Self Made Hero

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

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