One Quick Question
Seeing that it's still going to be October for another 20 or so days, I've been reading through a bunch of back issues in an effort to find a good story about the most pseudo-supernatural Batman foe of all, The Spook! Unfortunately, I've also come to the realization that despite including Jason Bard getting conked over the head with a shovel and buried alive, none of those stories are very good.
But, in keeping with recent themes here on the ISB, I did find a panel in 1973's Batman #252 that leaves me utterly mystified:
Exactly how hard must one punch a dog for it to make a sound like "ZONG!"?
posted by Chris Sims at 10/10/2006 11:17:00 PM
17 Comments:
Is this tied into the fact that the Spook was just beheaded by the Bat-brat in the latest issue of Morrison's run on Batman, or is that just a coincidence?
10/11/2006 1:59 AM
Huh. I'd never heard of The Spook before that Morrison comic. I assumed he'd made him up for the story.
Shows what I know.
~G
10/11/2006 4:29 AM
A: REALLY FUCKING HARD!
10/11/2006 6:36 AM
Prankster: Yes, but only in that seeing him there reminded me that there was a guy I might be able to get a good Halloween-themed post out of.
Instead, I got dogfightin'!
10/11/2006 9:09 AM
Bruce Wayne: Karate Dogfighter!
10/11/2006 10:00 AM
Man, now he's punching dogs? What, he ran out of kittens to kick? Brucie reaaaaly needs to get some therapy...and soon.
10/11/2006 10:04 AM
My extensive dog-punching research shows that "Zonk" is a rarity, and that you have to pull all the way back before delivering the blow. 9 times out of 10, you'll probably get "Whap!" But keep punching... it will all be worth it once you get to "Zonk."
10/11/2006 12:44 PM
McGone, McGone, McGone... Any good researcher in the field of canine pugilistics knows that it all depends on the breed.
Your average Doberman or German Shepherd have a much higher skull iron to calcium ratio than most of your smaller breeds, making them ideal for the elusive "ZONG."
Your research is spotty and unprofessional, at best. I hereby call for your resignation from the Amateur International Dog-Punching Society. Forthwith.
10/11/2006 1:10 PM
It's a fairly well-known fact that serial killers and other mentally unbalanced psycho/ sociopaths START their careers of "death & mayhem" by torturing (and beating) animals.
Bruce Wayne - filled with angst over his parent's death, went all over the world to learn the BEST ways in which to beat and "psychologically torture" people (baddies, to be sure) and then put on a COSTUME of an animal so that he could beat on other mental nutjobs wearing animal-themed garments... who themselves also beat and torture people. And animals.
And Batman too gets sucked into the downward spiral by beating up on animals:
"Zonk" dogs, Vampire dogs, man-bat's, attack penguins...
Not that it's NEW to anyone, to say the least, but the whole Batman mythos is pretty fucked up.
~P~
P-TOR
10/11/2006 2:12 PM
Actually, it looks like the sound effect is POWRRR-ZONG! That's even worse than a regular ZONG! That's one powerful ZONG! Unless it's supposed to be some sort of purring sound, in which case maybe Batman's glove is possessed by some sort of ghostly cat bent on revenge against the dog that killed it. So maybe the ZONG! is due to some ghostly punching powers. Wow, I think I just blew my own mind.
10/11/2006 4:05 PM
All I know is that Bats made that ZONG lefthanded!!!
"I am not left-handed!"
10/11/2006 5:08 PM
Brandon... touche. Careless of me, true. But before I resign my title as Grand High Canine Pugilist, I challenge you to a no-holds-barred Dog-Punch-athon! It is, as they say, on like Donkey Kong.
10/11/2006 7:44 PM
You're on. But we've got to start small. Tea-cup Chihuahuas or Toy Poodles or something.
Plus I'll need a week or two to get up to my full dog-punching weight. It's been a few months.
10/11/2006 8:50 PM
Not only hard enough to make a ZONG sound, but to leave a reverberating POWRRRRR-!
10/11/2006 9:02 PM
I assumed the "POWRRRR" was the dog growling, interrupted by Batman's left hook, delivered while he explains to the reader why he is punching this dog in the face, which may be the most badass thing to appear outside of Our Army at War.
But then again, I thought it said "Rowrrr," too...
10/11/2006 10:37 PM
I think this very panel answers your question pretty clearly...
Batman has summoned his ki to harness the power of the iron hand, whilst fighting this animated dog idol, brought to life by the collective withdrawn resentment of the residents of a flat building somewhere in lower East Tokyo.
You can tell because that's the closest human equivalent of the resonating humm of the iron hand: POWRRRRRR!
I think you'll find on the previous panel there are lots of little rocks hovering around Batman, too.
Like, shyeah.
10/11/2006 11:30 PM
Wow, when I saw Batman give a right hook to a rotweiler in "The Dark Knight," I was like "Aww, come on- there's no way Batman punches dogs!" Now I know how authentic that movie really is.
7/21/2008 1:28 PM
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