Fight Club 2

Writer: Chuck Palahniuk
Artist: Cameron Stewart
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 27, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99
 
New medium, new approach, new time period, same cast of broken, memorable characters.

Tyler Durden lives.

Fight Club 2, Chuck Palahniuk’s first foray (as far as I know) into the comics industry alongside Cameron Stewart is an explosive, intricate book. It successfully expands on the tone and imagery of the now neo-classic movie and book but doesn’t succeed, yet, in differentiating itself enough from the original. That’s for better or worse, depending on what you want from it.

This first issue reads like Palahniuk’s very grey matter pressed into ink and rubbed across the pages. It unrepentantly touches on everything that makes his writing so memorable. From roughly romantic nihilism to witty, abrasive punchlines, the whole thing encapsulates exactly what made its predecessor important to a lot of people. The scripting is loaded with examples of what I think Palahniuk is best at: describing things we’ve all felt in relatable but still interesting ways (See Marla saying “My wrinkles are on the inside). This cast of characters made an impression on millions of people either through their written personas or their film ones and Palahniuk demonstrates that he still has what it takes to give them life (despite this being a follow up to the book and not the film)

However, it also feels unfiltered or unedited. There’s some narrative transitions that don’t translate very well and readers would need to be pretty aware of the intricacies of Fight Club to really pick up on the weight of what’s going on here and, it’s been a long time since Fight Club. It feels like Palahniuk needs to reign it in a bit, some lines or events are so on the nose that any sense of depth or intrigue is lost. It's all really, really similar to the original and in some places that's good but, in others, you might yearn for something more. 

Stewart does his best to keep those blunt moments, and the rest of the book, interesting and for the most part, succeeds. The tone, imagery and impact of the art here is so evocative of the original Fight Club that only someone who truly hated that first part of this story would hate it here.  Fans, on the other hand, should feel right at home. The pill and flower petal imagery laying atop most of the pages is an interesting, if a little distracting, decision that I would normally hate in other books but works given the focus and intent of this story and world.

Overall, Fight Club 2 is a worthy, if over-the-top, follow up so far. There’s a lot to love if you can get past the parts that are too in your face and accept that it's ultimatelty a lot like the original with little remorse.