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Dorian Grey wasn't in the comic.

This is a gripe that seems to cycle back around every few years. Primarily it's an elist gripe and completely silly. Does it really matter if no one gets a bad reference to Moby Dick? No. Yeah Moby Dick is a pretty good book with good lessons on obsession and human falibility, but there have been good books and movies made on that theme a tad more recently so it's not like someone who never read Moby Dick will never learn these lessons. And it's not like the reference carried any meaning, none of the emotion of Moby Dick was in the reference or the story at that point, it was nothing more than a Hollywood script writer proving he'd done his research, BFD.

I remember, some 40 years ago, being in trouble in lit class in high school by asking "If the great authors are so great, why do we have to search for the meanings in their works." I had just read Moby Dick and still couldn't find all eight levels in the book.
I agree that there are newer titles that can convey the same lessons, but many of the old works are just a great read.