What's In A Sound?

I don't usually pay attention to the sound effects in comics. There have been exceptions, like John Workman's stuff on the Simonson Thor run, but by and large, I gloss over them. Not sure why. I might be adding my own in my head as I read, or it's that most of them are sort of basic and dull, and not really necessary.

For whatever reason, the sounds in Batgirl #16 did catch my attention. It's the first time I noticed that the sound of Batgirl's grappling gun firing is "Poot". I went back and checked my earlier issues and that's how it's presented since the first issue. That appeals to the five year old inside me, naturally.

On the same page as that, Steph tumbles through some rotten timbers as she falls to the ground, and one of the effects was "BUST", which seemed appropriate. Not just because the wood busted, but because Steph's plan to smoothly hook one of the timbers and gently descend fall apart, and there's the issue of how she's perceived by others. "Bust" gets used in sports to describe players who fail to meet , because they're high draft picks, or they were a big free-agent signing. Steph has finally gained the trust and respect of most of the Bat-family*, now she's on the run from the cops. Not how things were supposed to go.

The next sound is "Doof", which was probably Stephanie hitting the ground, though the art suggests it's her hitting another timber. Wikipedia says "Doof" is an outdoor dance party common to Australia, but I've mostly seen it used as an affectionate dig. Like a combination of "doofus" and "goof", so someone you can't really take seriously because they aren't too bright or competent. Which could also play into Batgirl's concerns that she's not living up to the name, that she's confirming what most people thought if her when she was Spoiler.

It was actually one of the sounds two pages after that which got me into this. Detective Gage has confirmed he thinks she's innocent. He's given her the planted evidence that was used to incriminate her, and popped her shoulder back in place. Then he promises to stall the other incoming cops while she escapes. Stephanie starts to say 'I could kiss you right on your. . .' at which point Oracle chimes in over their communicator 'Outside voice', so she finishes that with 'cheek'. What caught my attention (and made me laugh out loud) was apparently police sirens make the sound "Blurt Blurt".

There aren't a whole lot of other sound effects in the issue, and none them really stand out like those did. So I don't know whether letterer Travis Lanham was having some fun, or if it was planned by him and writer Bryan Q. Miller. There's always the possibility I'm reading into it something that isn't there (I've been known to do that). I didn't find any other glaring examples in the earlier issues, though for a moment I thought the sound for Damien's motorcycle was roughly "WHINING", which gave me a chuckle. But it was actually "wiiinnnnnng-wef-innnnnng", which is much closer to "winning" than "whining", dadgum it. Still, this'll merit some closer observation of upcoming issues.

* Damien probably still doesn't like her, but he's a twerp, thus his opinion is worthless.