6 Books That Should Get Graphic Novel Sequels

It’s been nearly 20 years since Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club was published, but Tyler Durden (the demented, seductive nut job played by a pre-Angelina Brad Pitt in the movie) is back, this time in a Fight Club graphic novel.

There’s been talk of a Fight Club sequel for a while now, and Dark Horse Comics recently released six pages from Fight Club 2 , out May 27. It picks up 10 years after the book left off, and it’s by Palahniuk and artist Cameron Stewart.

The chain-smoking femme fatale Marla Singer is back as well, spouting out lines like, “My wrinkles… they’re all on the inside!” If you haven’t seen the movie, Helena Bonham Carter plays Marla and she’s one of the sexiest, scariest female characters of the last 20 years. She’s a woman who wears bridesmaid dresses for no reason and hangs out at support groups for diseases she doesn’t have because, “It's cheaper than a movie, and there's free coffee.” She’s a real charmer.

Not every book deserves the graphic novel treatment. Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way and James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake would be pretty dull comic books. But there are plenty of classics, YA gems, and sci-fi novels that would look pretty cool rendered by an artist. Here’s a look at six.

California by Edan Lepucki

You’ve got an apocalyptic, near-future world, a married couple struggling to survive, bands of Pirates roaming around, and rich versus poor factions. There aren’t any epic battles or winged creatures, but a good artist and writer could create some epic battles. A dystopian California is a pretty cool setting for a graphic novel.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

This bonkers book was turned into an even more bonkers movie by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer (it was so crazy it took three directors to handle it). Even if you hated the movie you have to admit it’s visually pretty amazing, and it's perfect for a graphic novel. It takes place during six different eras, from “Neo Seoul” in 2144 to futuristic Hawaii to the South Pacific in the 1840s. Maybe the graphic novel will be easier to follow than the film.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Smith created such an odd, unique, bizarre world in this story about an Iowa teen and his friends, who unleash a plague of 6-foot tall praying mantises on the town. It’s also dark, funny, and strange as hell – all the more reason to make it visual. There’s a movie version in the works, so maybe they’ll do a graphic novel to go with it, since Hollywood just loves comic books.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

It took Fight Club almost 20 years to go from book to movie to graphic novel, so it’s not such a big deal that it’s been like 25 years since Atwood’s classic hit screens and stands. There’s tyranny, politics, drama, and plenty o' suspense.

Enemy Mine by Barry Longyear

A soldier from Earth crashes on an alien planet and has a bromance with a Drac (that’s what the aliens are called) named Jeriba Shigan. But not only that – Jeriba (played by Louis Gossett Jr. in the film) is pregnant! Men have babies on this crazy planet. Longyear had a wild imagination, and a graphic novel about a bromance sounds promising.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

Dunn’s novel about the Binewskis — a couple that decides to breed their own freak show family with the help of some radioactive materials and drugs — is like a superhero story where the characters are human kids with flippers, albino hunchbacks, and babies with telekinetic abilities. It has inspired artists, musicians, and filmmakers for decades, so the graphic novel version seems like a no brainer.

Now someone just needs to make all six of these graphic novels happen.