#365DaysOfWriting – Day 174
Fight Club 2
(Sorry Tyler, we gotta talk about this one. Thanks to your creator, Mr. Palahnuik!)
*HAS SPOILERS*
“This book is fantastic, has my highest recommendation.” – Brian Michael Bendis
With the comic book scene these days, you know you have to tread with caution when one is praised like this by Bendis. There are two reasons I bought this comic book: (1) I LOVED the first book, it was a beautiful exercise in present-day dystopia (loved the movie too) (2) I enjoy Chuck Palahnuik’s style of writing, and I’ve read almost all of his work – my favourite being Pygmy. And as a bonus point (3), this has Cameron Stewart’s art. Loved his work for the Hellboy universe, and on Batman and Batgirl. I even got the book signed at the Mumbai Comic Con this year!
Now, about the book itself.
It starts off decently, and is a pleasure for the first 5–6 chapters. Tyler’s back (duh), invading Sebastian’s consciousness (yes that’s the nameless narrator’s name) like an erotic cousin of Freddy Krueger.
He’s married Marla, and they have a son. And this is the deal with Marla: she’s happy with the sex from Tyler, but unhappy in her marriage with Sebastian. The son seems to have taken after the father, with a penchant for nitro-glycerine and all things explosive (he tries to make gunpowder out of dog poop, for heaven’s sake). The catch here, is that TYLER wants the son to be a part of his army for Project Mayhem (which has been revived, yes). So while the kid is Sebastian’s, he’s been born out of sex between Marla and Tyler.
How does Tyler come back, you ask? Well, Marla reduces Sebastian’s medication, which causes him to relapse to his old, multiple personality self.
All this makes for a cracking story. Right? It has the potential to even beat the original Fight Club!
Palahnuik has loaded all the heavy guns and is ready to fire…
Only he doesn’t. He uses a silly trope (in my opinion) that completely dilutes the credibility and audacity of the book, and the original Fight Club ending. He introduces HIMSELF as a character, probably to make the comic more META than it already is. He has characters asking for ‘plot armour’ and ‘plot advice’ and is part of Project Mayhem’s Tranquility Gambit.
The original Fight Club was already a great metaphor for so many things – the drudgery of the middle class, the dream of every man to rebel authority, questioning God and the very nature of human existence. Palahnuik ruins this one by trying to make it meta within meta – metaception, maybe?
But Cameron Stewart’s beautiful art is a beacon of hope amidst the disappointment.
He doesn’t try to make Sebastian, Marla and Tyler look like Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter and Brad Pitt – it’s a trap he could’ve easily fallen into, but avoids. Some of the panelling is very reminiscent of Watchmen, especially the Rorschach parts, and he even uses a lot of photo-style elements like real capsules and roses over the comic panels. It obscures some of the dialogue, but that’s what makes it impressive – it’s almost like you’re able to read Sebastian’s mind (and again, why would you want to see Chuck Palahnuik in HIS mind?).
