Chuck Palahniuk Talks About The 'Fight Club' Sequel

Technically, the first and second rules of Fight Club are that you don't talk about Fight Club. They don't say anything about the Fight Club sequel, so Chuck Palahniuk isn't breaking any vows by discussing his new project.

Officially announced by Palahniuk earlier this year, Fight Club 2 is a ten-issue comic book series that picks up with the unnamed protagonist of Fight Club about ten years later. Take a peek at some artwork and get the latest details from Palahniuk after the jump.

Dark Horse Comics is expected to launch the series in May 2015, with Cameron Stewart doing the illustrations. Matt Fraction (Hawkeye) pitched in as well, by reviewing the script.

In a chat with USA Today, Palahniuk dished up some new details about the project. Fight Club 2 reportedly alternates between the future and the past, and — somewhat surprisingly — delves into Tyler's origins. "Tyler is something that maybe has been around for centuries and is not just this aberration that's popped into his mind," the author teased.

Many of the elements from the original Fight Club are expected to return, including Project Mayhem and the Fight Club itself. But things have changed, as the protagonist quickly discovers when he drops in on a match for old times' sake.

"He tries to go back and reclaim that phase of his life, and is just a pathetic failure," Palahniuk said. "He's not that person anymore. But beyond that, it's what the organization has grown into in his absence and what he's pulled back into."

Palahniuk explained that he was inspired to write Fight Club 2 when he started thinking about fatherhood and other issues unique to middle age: "You're still not really happy but for different reasons. Also the idea that if you suppress that wild, creative part of you — that Tyler part of you — do you lose the best part of you? Sure, your life is more stable and safe, but is it a better life?"

But Stewart believes the new comic book is also about Fight Club the work. It's "as much a meta-fictional comment on the cultural response to Fight Club as it is a sequel," he said. Stewart described his illustrations for the book as "cartoony," in keeping with "the density of the story and for some of its more absurdly comical moments."

Are you eager to see Unnamed Protagonist and Marla move into middle age, or should Palahniuk have left them be?