Chuck Palahniuk's cult novel Fight Club was initially published in 1996, but I didn't get around to reading it until sometime before the 1999 movie; maybe around '97 or '98. I fell in love with it almost instantly, and probably like a lot of kids just out of college long enough to realize that there weren't enough jobs to go around and that the American Dream might be forestalled, I was especially fond of this line—one of many from the ever-quotable Tyler Durden:
“Our Generation has had no Great war, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives.”At the time, it seemed especially significant. With nothing to do and no money to do it with anyway, what were we all supposed to do now? Little did any of us know that we were all a couple of years away from all the war—and if not a Great Depression, then certainly a Great Recession—we could possibly stand. Now, at two decades removed from Fight Club's publication, I'd do anything for a little peace and economic stability, and I suspect I'm not alone. I still love Fight Club, though. I've read it several times over those past twenty years, even though I now find Tyler Durden to be more dangerous cult leader than revolutionary hero. That's part of the genius of Fight Club though, right? Tyler is all of these things and more. He's what we want him to be. And in some cases, he's what we want ourselves to be. But is he what we need him to be? Is he still relevant, or is he as nineties, and thus hopelessly outdated, as Slap Bracelets, Pogs, and the "Rachel" hair cut? These are some of the questions that Palahniuk and artist Cameron Stewart hoped to address in Fight Club 2. Not a book or movie, but a 10-issue limited run comic book series from publisher Dark Horse. Set a decade after the events of Project Mayhem, Fight Club 2 finds the protagonist, now named Sebastian, making a go of it with a wife and kids in the suburbs. Thanks to the pills keeping his alter ego(?) Tyler Durden away, he's managed to live a reasonably normal if not boring life. But his wife (You know her.) is ready for Sebastian to assume his destiny, so the pills go bye-bye. Will civilization go with them? Should it? Fight Club 2 proved to be just as controversial as the original novel, but this gleefully strange sequel proved that there's a Tyler for every season, and if you thought he was dated then you didn't know him at all. Don't worry: None of us did, really. If you missed it the first time around, you'll be able to pick up a hardcover collection on June 15 at your favorite local comic book shop. If you're extra lucky, you'll be able to catch Palahniuk on a 10-city book tour to promote its release. Want more? An oversized, slipcased hardcover limited edition will be released in October. It features a tip-in plate signed by Chuck Palahniuk, ninety pages of bonus content, and a striking new cover by legendary artist David Mack.