When readers hear the name Dorian Gray, they likely think of the protagonist in the classic story by Oscar Wilde. This new story in the form of a graphic novel turns Wilde’s initial vision on its head; Dorian is a woman scorned on a quest for revenge in GRAY by Arvind Ethan David. Just think of the worst thing you could do to get back at someone who wronged you – I guarantee our new Dorian takes it much, much further. 

Detective Hank Wutan of the New York Police Department and his partner are investigating a string of abductions, where all the victims have some things in common – white, male, wealthy, and connected to Harvard. When Hank makes himself bait in order to get closer to the perpetrator(s), he finds himself in a compromising scenario yet not much closer to getting more answers. 

Readers, on the other hand, see all – by the end of this first volume of GRAY we can assume what had happened to Dorian and why she is collecting these men one by one and exacting her revenge. What would happen if the serial killer Jigsaw got a hold of his assaulter, or was politically motivated to persuade a congressman to vote a certain way? I’ll let your imagination do the rest, but you can also pick up a copy and see for yourself. 

What makes this story unique is that it started off with a Kickstarter campaign to make it possible, and is a multimedia project. Two volumes of graphic novels will tell part of the story, while a gripping podcast series will finish it off. As far as this first volume goes, it was a decent read and the artwork doesn’t shy away from the gruesome methods in which Dorian and her accomplices take care of business. 

While I appreciate this version of a female-empowerment story, it lacked some originality and left me wanting more (and yes I realize this is just part one). Either way, I’ll keep a look out for Vol. 2.