KA-BOOM!: A Dictionary of Comic Book Words, Symbols & Onomatopoeia

by Kevin Taylor

Shouldn't all dictionaries start with AAAA and end with ZZZZZZZTZZ-ZTZZZ? Ka-BOOM! it's a collection of sound effects from comic books, each one rigorously defined and cross referenced. Nowhere has the art of onomatopoeia been raised to higher heights than in the humble comic book. --TIME Digital Vol.5 No.5 /// Hey, comic book fans, good news. At long last there's a new dictionary and thesaurus of those odd words you only find in comics. KA-BOOM!: A Dictionary of Comic Book Words, Symbols & Onomatopoeia..., compiled by Kevin J. Taylor, covers all those comic words, sounds and also includes the companion work BZZURKK! The Thesaurus of Champions. Want to know what RINK-RIK means, how about BRAKK or KLUD? This book holds your answers. Taylor, who put 10 years of work into this compilation, has cited the comic books where the sound effects were used, cross referenced entries and defined them. The thesaurus is a quick guide, minus the definitions. ... Before you dismiss this work as too esoteric to be much use, it's worth noting that comic books encourage reluctant readers to read more and some teachers have found the book to be useful in vocabulary lessons, such as A. Simpson, an English language arts teacher from West Virginia. She said she wants to incorporate a lesson where students create their own dictionaries in the vein of KA-BOOM! --The Now Newspaper /// I love comic book words, those strange collisions of consonants meant to convey the sounds of explosions or fists thudding into abdomens or minor super heroes being electrocuted. Kevin Taylor likes them even more, enough to have compiled an entire dictionary, from "AAAA!", a cry of pain from Dare Devil - The Man Without Fear (Vol.1, issue 3, 1993) to "ZZZZZZZTZZZTZZZ", the sound of mechanical parts coming undone, from Dead The Circle Chase (Issue 4, 1993). --The Sydney Morning Herald /// Kevin J. Taylor is a West Coast author and poet.

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 9, 2007

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very unlike what I would usually read but I needed to read something with an onomatopoeia in the title for Book Bingo so here we are. This wasn't a bad book it did have some spellings that I wouldn't have thought of for an onomatopoeia before. I am not the intended audience for this book but I can definitely see how this could be useful for those who write comics. I enjoyed the onomatopoeia boomer room for laxatives coming into effect. It also was an easy book to read for the most part.

[Jonni Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book referencing onomatopoeias. Phonetically imitates the sound of the word.

[Poppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

$2.99 for crap

What a fucking waste of $two.ninety nine... Nothing bit Alexa & b brb orkjkjkj. It's crap wasted my money. Certainly should have known better.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An actual dictionary of comic book sound effects. Includes issue of appearance

[Yuuki Nakashima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, this is a very useful dictionary. Onomatopoeias often give me a hard time to translate; especially when it doesn't have any illustration. I can refer to this book from now on.