“This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time…”

Warning: Full Spoilers Ahead

This is a story I never thought would continue. I have long been a fan of Fight Club since I first saw the movie in theatre, and it was also the first DVD I ever purchased. The theme of materialism, commercialism, and a lost generation hit home. With this becoming more of an issue than it was more than 15 years ago, it’s the perfect time for the resurrection of Tyler Durden.
Fight Club 2 #1 picks up years later with the narrator, now known as Sebastian married to Marla with a kid. He has become the father he doesn’t want to be, popping pills and returning to the Ikea catalog and khaki wearing life of his past. Sebastian has been subjugated into suburbia, the exact thing that he fought against: conformity.
Marla. If I had a tumor I’d name it Marla. Unsurprisingly, she is not content with this “new and improved” Sebastian. She isn’t happy being a soccer mom and their marriage is rapidly failing. Marla finds her joy in the groups; she escapes to a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome meeting. She vents about her marriage issues, unbeknownst that her husband was attending the meeting with flowers in an attempt to rectify things. Marla reveals that Tyler was institutionalized at one point, and he’s been lost to the drugs. And more importantly, we learn that she’s replacing some pills with aspirin. The kid of course is a complete mess, as he’s creating homemade gunpowder. When the babysitter asks Junior where he learned this, the panel ends. There is only one person who can teach him such valuable life lessons.

Summary

This is a tough story to go back to, without mirroring what was done before. Despite some obvious familiarities, I felt Palahniuk did a good job. It felt like Fight Club, and to me that’s the most important thing. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next. I think Tyler, Marla and the overall theme of Fight club will still resonate with the audience, as it’s even more relevant today. Tyler lives…

Release Date: 5/27/15

Writer: Chuck Palahniuk

Artist: Cameron Stewart