Tok Wok THAP!

Quickly, here are some assumptions:
If 0 = the roughly number of people that read this blog during the week, then -3 is probably closer to the number of people reading at midnight on a Friday, and -10 is about how many people will care if I do a random, useless post about Batman foley art. So here goes!

Tonight I dug up some old Batman Detective Comics, because this is my weekend. I love the art as much as the next guy, but overall comics make me realize the opportunities I have been missing in my own writing. I'd like to give you some examples of onomatopoetic foley sounds that I find fascinating-- comics are known for their BAM!s and POW!s, but here are a few more subtle examples that made the hair on my neck stand on end.

Tok and Wok = Performed in unison, the sounds of a kick to the guy behind you and a punch to the guy in front of you
Fok = Similar to a Tok, the sound of a side-kick to the face
Swok = The sound of a rapid punch while avoiding being hit by a guitar
Thap = The sound of a blocked punch
Foof = Self-explanatory enough, the sound of an anarchist's sleeping gas bomb
Splush = The sound of a corrupt fatcat's head being dunked into the sludge he's been dumping in the local river
Klk, Snklk, Viiiiip and Snak = In that order, the sounds of a grappling hook being shot, catching and going taut
Snk = The sound when the grappling hook line breaks
Twung = The sound of bouncing off of a conveniently-placed, horizontal flag pole
Whump, Whud!, Thud = The sounds of Batman kicking a tiger in the side (yes, this happens more than once to various aural effects)
Krunggg! = The sound of a large man landing on a conversion van
Skash! = The sound of a light being broken by claws

And my personal all-time favorite...
Fratch = the sound of someone busting through a glass ceiling

These examples were taken from issues 608 and 612, in case you're curious about Batman fighting tigers and anarchists.

I'm mostly having fun of course, but this kind of attention to detail is what makes things like comic books such a unique experience. Next time I hit the inevitable wall that is Writer's Block, I need to remember to come back to the glory of the old stuff.

Free Comic Book Day 2008

In exchange for reminding him about RSS Awareness Day, my friend Kris reminded me that today we celebrate the geek holiday that is Free Comic Book Day.

My brother (pictured) and I headed down to Captain Comic in Beechmont, to see what FCBD was all about. There was a huge selection of comics that you could choose between as your freebies-- I came away with Hellboy and X-Men issues, while Bradley chose Sonic and Iron Man. (Uh, separate comics-- I don't believe there's a "Sonic and Iron Man" storyline just yet.)


And of course I felt weird about only patronizing the store for free stuff (especially because this was the mom-and-pop comic book store of my fantasies), so Bradley and I also bought a few issues. I found a series called Grimm Fairy Tales that I probably shouldn't post pictures of on this family-friendly blog, but if you're imagining a buxom Alice in Wonderland you're right on.

Lately I've come across a lot of articles about the psychology of free stuff, and how it's still one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. What do you think? Any swag pull you into a store lately, only for you to come away with a small collection of racy fairy tales?