‘Subversive and Blunt’: Meet Fight Club 2

‘Subversive and Blunt’: Meet Fight Club 2

April 28, 2015 0 By Jeff Fountain

In 1996, Chuck Palahniuk turned a seven page short story in his first novel called Fight Club. Three years later, director David Fincher took that story and put it up on the big screen, pushing the movie far beyond cult status, immortalizing the characters and striking a chord with audiences so that to this day, everyone still knows the first rule of fight club. Now almost twenty years later,
fightclubFight Club 2 is here, and although it is in a ten issue comic book series and not a movie it is still very relevant, both subversive and blunt in its message and jaw dropping in its stunning visuals.

The first issue begins ten years later where the now named narrator Sebastian and his partner Marla celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary although it is not much of a celebration. Sebastian has become a shell, taking pills to keep the destructive alter ego Tyler at bay, which in turns is making him a lousy father and a worse lover. Marla, going through the motions at the same support groups where they first met, vents her frustrations concerning their almost nonexistent sex life.

Obviously, something has to change and Marla takes everything into her own hands…

I have to compliment both writer Chuck Palahniuk and artist Cameron Stewart for what I can best describe and beautifully controlled mayhem in this first issue. It would have been very easy to take this material and go right off the rails, especially after such a long absence, but both writer and artist are totally
in control of this first issue.

Now that’s not to say there isn’t any craziness going on here. Palahniuk seems to be embracing the comic format, taking his usual thought provoking dialogue to interesting places while at the same time having nine more issues to flesh out some more background and depth to the characters. Personally, I can’t wait to see what else he is going to bring out in these characters.

Stewart meanwhile, manages to make the characters look bland but edgy and diabolical all at the same time. While he definitely held onto the reins in terms of going too far, there are some graphic and stunning pages, and with there being a ten year gap since we last met these characters, it is like revisiting old friends again. The colors fit very well and the paneling is easy to follow, something that is very important when reading a comic series like this. Stewart’s art is definitely in sync with Palahniuk’s writing style and it all fits together quite well.

This was an excellent first issue and a great way to jump back into the world of Fight Club. While this subject matter may not be for anyone, if you are a fan of Fight Club and something a little different in the world of comics, I highly recommend you pick this up. On Saturday, May 2, Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day Sampler includes a 14-page sample of Fight Club 2 and the first issue hits comic stands and online on May 27th.

4stars