Vault Remixes Dorian Gray in “The Picture of Everything Else”

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Vault Comics have announced “The Picture of Everything Else,” a new series written by Dan Watters with art by Kishore Mohan launching in December. Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the comic takes place in early 20th century Paris, where a series of murders are unfolding, and art thieves have discovered an unlikely clue to the killer’s identity: portraits damaged in exactly the same way their subjects were killed. “Could it be possible that the artist behind the infamous of the portrait of Dorian Gray has returned, with a far deadlier intent in mind?”

“The Picture of Dorian Gray has always been a favorite of mine, both as a novel and a concept,” Watters said in a statement. “But I think it’s been squandered a little when it’s been revisited. We’ll often see Dorian crop up in other mediums — the immortal, beautiful young decadent with his picture hidden in the attic. But what of the man who made the painting? There was a man who made art which rendered its subject immortal. What if he started to change his works, and change the world with them? What if he sought to make the world a paradise- or a hell? Maybe art could get us there. Maybe it still will.”

Mohan, whose previous credits include “Crackle,” said “the story demanded several mutually compatible, yet visually distinct art styles to coexist in the same space. I guess it did help that the last decade had given me the opportunity to work in more than one medium of storytelling. I’ve worked as an animation director, a comic book artist, a children’s book illustrator, and a cartoonist in the past. So I had always tried to be flexible when it came to the tools I used for my art and that’s pretty much what ‘The Picture of Everything Else’ required me to do.”

“The Picture of Everything Else” #1 releases December 12. Head on over The Hollywood Reporter for preview art, and variant covers by Nathan Gooden and Adam Gorham.