Timed to the launch of San Diego Comic-Con International, Dark Horse Comics announced today that bestselling novelist Chuck Palahniuk will be a character in the acclaimed ten issue FIGHT CLUB 2 mini series, which is written by Palahniuk, illustrated by Cameron Stewart and colored by Dave Stewart, with covers by David Mack. Issue 3 of the series, on sale July 22, confirms Palahniuk as a character in the series, where he will be a reoccurring presence along with his iconic creations Tyler Durden and Marla Singer. Issue 4 of the series promises to further up the ante and the antics with an appearance by members of Palahniuk’s real life writing group, including the novelists Chelsea Cain, Monica Drake, Lidia Yuknavitch, Suzy Vitello and Diana Jordan.
“Literary critics claim that Ken Kesey’s mental hospital in CUCKOO’S NEST and Toni Morrison’s plantation in BELOVED represent those authors’ post-graduate writing workshops,” said Chuck Palahniuk. “To prevent anyone from thinking my own workshop is either a support group for the terminally ill or a bare-knuckle mosh pit, I’ve included it in FIGHT CLUB 2.”
“Consider FIGHT CLUB’s cultural impact, and you have to imagine its impact, and Tyler’s impact, on Chuck himself,” said Dark Horse Comics Editor-in-Chief Scott Allie. “Fans sometimes blur the line between the artist and the work, and having lived with these characters for twenty years, Chuck’s diving head on into it here. Authors from Philip Roth to Bret Easton Ellis to Grant Morrison have popped up in their own work before, but Chuck’s taking it into all new territory, doing what he always does—giving you an experience no one else can provide.”
“By openly acknowledging the mechanics of film, David Fincher made his version seem more real and more mythic at the same time,” said Palahniuk. “By dragging my own creative process into FC2 I’m doing the equivalent of demonstrating splices, reel change-over marks, film breaks and rattling the film in the movie projector gate.”
Palahniuk enthusiasts at Comic-Con will want to track down two FIGHT CLUB exclusives. An SDCC exclusive FIGHT CLUB 2 issue 1 comic book, with a cover by Joelle Jones, will be available at the Dark Horse Booth (Booth # 2615) while supplies last. Meanwhile the Penguin Random House booth (Booth # 1519/1520) will be selling a Rare Bird Lit SDCC exclusive edition of the vinyl audiobook release of Palahniuk’s FIGHT CLUB prequel story “Expedition.” The short story takes place before the events of the bestselling FIGHT CLUB novel and is an origin story of Tyler Durden. The vinyl audiobook features Palahniuk reading “Expedition” from Doubleday’s bestselling short story collection MAKE SOMETHING UP: STORIES YOU CAN’T UNREAD, accompanied by music by Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Rob Campanella and featuring album art by FIGHT CLUB 2 cover artist David Mack.
