I am Jack’s returning terror.
Chuck Palahniuk’s twisted mind has circled back to the man we knew as Tyler Durden, orchestrator of Project Mayhem and absolute mind *%@$ extraordinaire. Ten years have passed since Tyler blew Tyler away in the top floor of that office building, and we get to see what trouble he’s gotten into since.
None, it seems. Living in the suburbs, raising a child when away from his mindless job, watching his happy, little life with Marla and Junior pass the hours and days away while Marla misses the psycho she fell for and Junior keeps some very familiar hobbies. It seems that Sebastian (as he now calls himself) has returned to his status of the quo, before his apartment went all blooey. So, what could possibly undue this stasis?
Palahniuk is one sick puppy and returns to full force in this first issue. Managing to remind us what we loved about the book and film in the first place, he puts us off-kilter, makes us uncomfortable, and draws us in at the same time. It’s probably not too spoilery to say that Sebastian’s life is going to get very complicated again very soon, and I’m totally in for the ride. There are some moments that feel lifted directly from the original in a bit of a “been there, done that” sort of way, but I’m thinking that it’s just the starting point, a place to re-ready ourselves for what I expect to be a wild ride through the mind and chaos once again.
The visuals for Palahniuk’s work have to be spot on to be right with his already graphic storytelling style, and Cameron Stewart seems to be the perfect person for the job. Layering in wonderful depth to the characters we loved a decade ago, everything feels like the film in a great way. There’s a cool technique of covering certain moments with things or sounds covering the page, and it feels like the comic version of the “cigarette burn” moments from the movie. He’s got a great feel for the work and balances the humdrum with the out-of–control moments brilliantly; moments that defy logic make a certain kind of sense, and the visceral nature of the artwork matches Palahniuk’s style almost too well.
If you realize that you’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake, if you enjoy selling rich women their own fat back to them as soap as a beautifully symmetrical business relationship, or if you just want to see how tripped out this guy can really get, then be sure to pre-order your copy at your local comic book shop by May 4th. It promises to be a helluva ride.
His name was Robert Paulson.
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