Fight Club 2 #1

By Chuck Palahniuk, Cameron Stewart and Dave Stewart

We love Fight Club. Who the heck doesn’t? The movie was cool and the book is even better. It’s a cult hit that became something of a mini phenomenon. Back in high school, the artsy kids loved it for its social commentary and abstract plot. The mongoloids loved it because dudes hit each other and Tap-Out/UFC was yet to be a mainstream success. It’s something of a surreal experience, to be laying eyes on an official sequel, yet here we are.

The story takes place 10 years or so after the events of the first book. Our nameless main character is going by the name “Sebastian.” He’s heavily medicated, living a suburban life with a wife (who will be familiar to fans) and oddball kid. He has essentially become the very thing that he always hated. Even his wife is miserable and wants his alter ego back. Speaking of Tyler, “Sebastian” keeps running into little clues that the past might be clawing its way back.

If anybody was worried that Palahniuk wouldn’t transition to comics well, you can rest easy. This is the best comics writing debut in recent memory. His style seems to compliment such a visual medium. This issue doesn’t suffer from any first issue hiccups; it just hits the ground running. The setup is placed with minimal effort and it works to perfection.

The only complaint to be found is the fact that things occasionally seem a tad too similar. We certainly don’t want a Fight Club version of The Hangover Parts 2 and 3. However, that may just be a case of setting up a premise for new readers. We’ll see how future issues unfold before we make any such judgements.

The art is really something special. Cameron Stewart’s pencils give it the dirty look the story needs, while keeping an indie comic vibe that fits Fight Club like a glove. Dave Stewart’s colors top things off quite nicely. When “Sebastian” is in his boring and medicated life, things are very sterile and blue. As soon as his life becomes exciting, colors appear and leap right off the panels. Not to mention, there’s pills and flower pedals lying over the pages, giving the illusion of a 3D effect.

It’s safe to say that Fight Club 2 lives up to the hype. It’s everything that we loved about the first entry and then some. Will things be even crazier than before? Let’s hope so. Bring on issue 2!