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THE PLOT HOLES

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CUANDO UNA HISTORIA NO FUNCIONA, ALGUIEN TIENE QUE RESCATARLA. ¡PREPÁRATE PARA CONOCER EL PODER DE LA EDICIÓN! Cliff es un dibujante de cómics sin éxito al que de repente la vida le da un vuelco cuando descubre que en realidad no es más que un personaje de una novela mala. Por suerte, un grupo de héroes de fantasía autodenominados Los Fallos de Argumento le salvarán del olvido y darán sentido a su existencia. Con sus nuevos y extravagantes compañeros, Cliff saltará de libro en libro editando sus historias para que puedan ser publicadas… …y así salvando los mundos que contienen. The Plot Holes (Los Fallos de Argumento) es la nueva obra escrita y dibujada por Sean Murphy, el aclamado autor de Caballero Blanco, Punk Rock Jesus y artista de Tokyo Ghost, y cuenta con el color de Matt Hollingsworth y Dave Stewart. Un cómic que combina multitud de géneros y que es todo un homenaje a los lectores de buenas historias.

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read

About the author

Sean Gordon Murphy

249 books411 followers
After breaking into the industry at a young age, Sean Gordon Murphy made a name for himself in the world of indie comics before joining up with DC. In his tenure, he has worked on such titles as Batman/Scarecrow: Year One, Teen Titans, Hellblazer, Joe The Barbarian, and the critically acclaimed miniseries American Vampire: Survival Of The Fittest and The Wake with Scott Snyder. Murphy also wrote and illustrated the original graphic novel Offroad and the popular miniseries Punk Rock Jesus.

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5 stars
19 (10%)
4 stars
73 (39%)
3 stars
66 (35%)
2 stars
22 (11%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Sean Gibson.
Author 7 books6,116 followers
April 13, 2022
I love Murphy’s art; this book is worth it for that alone. The story itself is a bit muddled—stronger high concept than execution—but still entertaining.
Profile Image for Luis Collado.
67 reviews33 followers
April 6, 2023
Original, divertido y repleto de referencias a personajes y franquicias de los últimos 40 años.
Profile Image for Alex Murphy.
332 reviews41 followers
December 29, 2021
Sean Gordon Murphy is seen to be one of the big hitters in the comic world; while I haven't read anything by him, I've seen his books get good reviews and reception. So when this turned up on Indiegogo, with a plot that reminded me of a mix of a The Never Ending Story and The Pagemaster, I decided to back it. After reading it...ehh.

Cliff ‘Inkslayer’ Wieselwitz is a failing comic book writer in New York; widowed, he's waiting for his break. But this arrives in a way that's not expected. Then a mysterious woman, The Editor (or Ed) at his apartment. She tells him that he is a character, in a not particularly good book, and that she needs his help, just before a giant alien worn rips through the wall and the Editor portals them away. Now at the Editor’s base; The Program, she asks him to help and join her team; The Plot Holes. A group of other book characters that have been assembled to help save what would be otherwise rubbish digital books from being deleted, as the server that stores all the world’s digital books is deleting forever any books that have major issues. So the team jump into these yet, unpublished books, fixing errors, changing and removing characters and fixing problems in the story to make these novels from being deleted. But there's a new problem that if they don't stop, it will destroy every book in the system, and it's one that hits close to the Plot Holes.

Ok, I get the stuff I liked about this book out the way first. The art and character design are very good, and the style is classic Sean Murphy. The individual characters are interesting...to a point. Roar the shape-shifting blue Tiger from a fantasy book, Kevin a 1930s comic book little boy, but with a foul mouth, Jonny Manga from a bad robot fighting manga and Rasoir, a vampire pirate who was more of a villain in her own book. Their designs are really good and are probably the most appealing thing for me.

What didn't work for me. The plot really; the whole concept of the story and the mission of the Plot Holes just had me going so what? Why should there be some super editing AI saving crap books? Should a bunch of badly written novels be saved? Why? Why should this team be assembled to try and fix them? The stakes and consequences just seemed really small scale and inconsequential. I mean; I don't want to see any books destroyed or lost; even bad ones (I mean I might make an exception for Shadow Moon) but the idea of saving these books, seemed to have no real stakes. The books all seem to be the self published types uploaded to Amazon, or those kind of internet boards like creepypasta I think. If they were like classic books, like Treasure Island, Oliver Twist etc and they were going to erased forever I’d understand that, but a couple of crap books about giant Gundam robots controlled by drift racing cars or one on a slave, turned prostitute, turned vampire into a vampire pirate I don't think would be a massive loss to literature. Also I don't get the rules. Kev, the 1930s little boy comic strip, that used to be really popular but then was ruined by his author’s rants? Unless scanned into a computer, those strips would still exist as the wasn't any internet or cloud storage in the 30s. Also they try to save a book written from recently found letters of George Washington, but fail, and Ed is distraught that no-one will ever read them. But the letters must be physically somewhere, Washington wasn’t writing letters to his wife before the battle of Yorktown on his iPad and uploading it to the iCloud. That book might not exist, but the letters still would.
While there is a plot about something destroying any book it comes across, the entire larger premise of the Plot Holes just really didn't engage with me, and all the other plots that were happening at the same time, like what is behind the whole scale destruction of books in the system, Ed’s secretive history and Cliff being the new member of the team I just really didn't care.

Would this be a recommend? For all the reasons I mentioned, no. For me, story (or plot) is king and here it just didn't click for me. Stories with small scale consequences can still be good, but it felt like it was small scale consequences made to seem gigantic and it didn't work. The characters were parodies of those type of characters but they weren't that interesting and it felt like a chore to care. I mean if art is the big reason for reading comics then this might be worth a look, as I’d say that was the best thing about this book. For me, it was disappointing, and if there are going to be any follow ups or sequels I don't think I will bother.
Profile Image for Mendousse.
317 reviews5 followers
May 15, 2022
Original, Sean Murphy. What else ?
Profile Image for Ilia Epifanov.
Author 3 books37 followers
January 13, 2022
A great, quick read! I enjoyed the story, and SGM's artwork has never been better. A solid story with some fun characters. Taking a star off for two reasons:
1) felt like the story could've been twice longer, if not more (i know comics are expensive to make) – the pacing seemed a bit too quick and there wasn't enough time to develop the chars and relationships;
2) the story felt a lot to me like SGM's Chrononauts, which is not critical, but did take away from the finale a bit.
Well worth getting a hard cover though!
1,367 reviews5 followers
July 2, 2023
POPKulturowy Kociołek:

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/plot-...

Każdy miłośnik kultury pisanej doskonale wie, że autorzy poszczególnych dzieł mają niekiedy trudności z odpowiednim prowadzeniem wymyślonych przez siebie wątków. Może to niestety prowadzić do literackiej katastrofy i porzucenia danego tytułu przez czytelnika. Na całe szczęście istnieją pewni bohaterowie, którzy zapobiegają takim wydarzeniom. Herosi (będący postaciami z różnych gatunków literackich) działają w ramach elitarnej grupy Plot Holes. Pod czujnym okiem wymagającej Redaktorki naprawiają oni pogubione i źle prowadzone wątki, tym samym dbając o wysoką jakość ratowanego tytułu.

Plot Holes (Dziury fabularne) to dość osobliwe, ale również bardzo intrygujące dzieło, o czym świadczy, chociażby sam krótki zarys scenariusza. W dużym uproszczeniu tytuł można określić mianem komiksowej Incepcji, gdzie pozornie proste wydarzenia mogą skrywać znaczną głębię.

Pierwszy plan historii w całości poświęcony jest przyjemnej w odbiorze wartkiej akcji. Wraz z grupką mocno nietuzinkowych bohaterów przemierzamy różne literackie światy (naprawdę ogromne zróżnicowanie gatunków) i obserwujemy, jak ratują je od popadnięcia w literacki marazm. Scenom akcji nie brakuje solidnej widowiskowości, która dodatkowo odpowiednio doprawiona jest dawką dramatyzmu i pasującego wyrazistego humoru.

Wierzchnia warstwa komiksu skrywa próbę ukazania przez autora bardzo trudnego i czasem bolesnego procesu twórczego, gdzie wystarczy jeden mały błąd, aby wszystko zaczęło się sypać. Twórca porusza tu również „problem” relacji wydawca-autor, gdzie każdy z nich często ma zupełnie inną wizję dzieła i bardzo trudno jest dojść do porozumienia zadowalającego obie strony.

Intensywność i niezwykłość historii niesie jednak ze sobą również pewne zauważalne problemy. Scenariusz został zamknięty tu na zaledwie około 140 stronach. Siłą rzeczy oznacza to uproszczenie niektórych treści i podawanie ich w formie skrótowej. Niektóre momenty wręcz proszą się tu o mocniejsze rozwinięcie intrygi. Nie wspominając już o tym, że sami bohaterowie nie mają w pełni okazji zaprezentowania swoich niesamowitych osobowości. Tak naprawdę, jeśli Sean Murphy chciałby należycie zaakcentować wszystkie swoje pomysły z dobrym rozwinięciem bohaterów, to opowieść musiałaby zostać rozłożona na kilka ponad 100 stronnicowych albumów...
Profile Image for very little book nerd.
506 reviews32 followers
August 5, 2023
Oficjalnie ogłaszam, że "Plot Holes" trafia do grona moich ulubionych komiksów! 🖤

Jest to powieść o tajemniczym i elitarnym zespole, złożonym z postaci z przeróżnych książek. Mamy więc zmiennokształtnego tygrysa z powieści fantasy, (nieco zepsutego) chłopca z komiksów dla dzieci, prawie-samuraja z mangi sci-fi oraz wampirkę z obyczajowej powieści historycznej. Do drużyny kierowanej przez tajemniczą Ed trafia także nasz główny bohater, Cliff, rysownik komiksów.

No dobrze, ale co ten zespół właściwie robi? Ano łata dziury fabularne w niewydanych jeszcze książkach! Za pomocą "zakładki" przenika do ich fabuły i zmienia ją - eliminuje źle wykreowanych bohaterów, wpływa na przebieg akcji, ingeruje w fabułę. Robi wszystko, by beznadziejne książki stały się bestsellerami i po publikacji zyskały doskonałe opinie! ✨

Komiks o książkach - nie wiedziałam, że go potrzebuję, dopóki nie poznałam "Plot Holes". To przygodowe, jednotomowe fantasy skradło mi serce - nie tylko wartką akcją i ciekawie wykreowanymi bohaterami, ale przede wszystkim mega oryginalnym pomysłem na fabułę! 🖤

Pod powierzchnią "Plot Holes" skrywa także dużo więcej - to opowieść o tęsknocie, podejmowaniu własnych wyborów, odpowiedzialności za swoje czyny oraz o tym, co tak naprawdę jest w życiu ważne - nie praca, a rodzina.

Nie spodziewałam się, że ten komiks zrobi na mnie tak ogromne wrażenie - a jednak! Uwielbiam go i polecam z całego serca!
Profile Image for Brian Garthoff.
462 reviews5 followers
March 19, 2024
Anytime Sean Murphy is both writing and drawing something, I’m in. The Plot Holes is a bit off the beaten path, but not too dissimilar from a sci-fi book he drew and didn’t write called Chrononauts.

Through five issues Murphy plays with a fresh and fun concept, of a rag-tag team of characters rescued from failed stories journeying together to edit and publish other books. Allowing him to change setting and explore whatever he wants, even referencing some of his other work along the way. I let these books sit on my shelf for weeks fearing it may be a little corny or underwhelming, but I discovered the exact opposite. The Plot Holes is a fun fast-paced adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously and still gives us a ton of great art and action.
Profile Image for Edward Correa.
Author 8 books18 followers
February 4, 2022
Al principio me parecía una mera excusa para que Murphy dibujara lo que le diera la gana, no esperaba que la historia tuviera ni siquiera sentido. Luego comencé (como siempre son Sean Murphy) a disfrutar el arte y los giros de la historia iban construyendo algo más inteligente de lo que en apariencia era. Al final es obvio que la historia tiene "plot holes", y que aunque es muy interesante y original el approach del autor es realidad sí se trata de un gran pretexto para dibujar cosas que a él le gustan, y saben qué, terminé dándole completamente la razón. Espero algún día poder comprar una copia impresa.
Profile Image for Issac Bright.
42 reviews1 follower
October 27, 2023
I love me some Sean Murphy, I can look at his art layouts and distinct linework all day long. His White Knight Universe is the best Alt Bat Universe ever and his original stories like Tokyo Ghost and Punk Rock Jesus are instant classics. That said, this is kinda corny. I get the premise, and he draws the s**t outta of it, but if this was an elevator pitch to some Hollywood exec Murphy would get a "Hey that sounds great, send me the script" which means, please stop talking to me. I'm on board to see if he can transform this into something special but, yeesh 'Yay! We're here to save bad books!' Oy vey. Full take at:
https://standupcomicreader.blogspot.c...
Profile Image for Ricky Lima.
Author 7 books16 followers
February 21, 2024
I love Murphy's art! It strikes the perfect balance between grungy ink, and clear, classic comic art. Dudes a real master. I've enjoyed pretty much everything else he's done that's why it's a bit strange that I didn't really like this book. The concept was clever, but maybe toooo clever. There were so many book puns and terms used that were related to books. Almost felt like this book was an excuse to use books puns.

The book was still well paced and was structurally sound but I just can't put my finger on what didn't work for me. Maybe it just needed to be longer. Probably needed more exploration of the world and the characters.
Profile Image for Craig.
19 reviews1 follower
January 16, 2024
I love the concept and the art. The idea is that a group of fictional characters recruited from different books jump into unpublished works to edit them to make them good enough to publish. They accomplish this by deleting characters or changing situations and if they fail, the book gets deleted.

I don't know if there's more to come, but limiting this to just five issues I think hurt the story and any character development.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.3k reviews1,061 followers
December 24, 2023
This is a real high concept book. It's about characters from different books that are entering other books before they are published and editing them to make them better in order to keep them from getting trashed. Yeah, I know it doesn't sound like it would work, but Murphy gives it his all and it does. Sean Murphy's art is just as terrific as it always is.
Profile Image for Alex.
703 reviews11 followers
February 11, 2022
A comic about comics, it's meta, a smidge self indulgent, but it looks amazing, is a fun romp, and you get milage out of it the more you know about the medium. It's not winning any awards, but as a self published book, it's worth reading
Profile Image for A_davis.
39 reviews2 followers
December 17, 2023
I’ve had this one on my shelf for quite awhile and I wish I had gotten to it sooner. A fun and action packed romp that lovingly pokes fun and celebrates everything bookworms love about books. Would love to see a sequel that takes on A.I. written and drawn art.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Valéria..
1,019 reviews37 followers
July 26, 2024
This was just awesome. In every way. Not too short, not too long, funny but not too much, emotional but not too much. Interesting concept, interesting characters, lots of great action, beautifully illustrated. It needs to be talked about more.
Profile Image for John Funderburg.
614 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2021
Read my advanced copy digitally, and I'll be getting hardcover and artist's edition shortly! Very excited.
Profile Image for Sophie Ginisty.
Author 2 books9 followers
November 4, 2022
De bonnes illustrations mais un scénario un peu léger bien qu'agréable à lire.
194 reviews
February 17, 2023
Ce graphic-novel est une lettre d'amour (extrêmement divertissante et merveilleusement bien dessinnée) à nos lectures, bande-dessinées, mangas, comics etc... Je suis fan !
Profile Image for María Pealva.
Author 1 book13 followers
May 22, 2023
Muy divertido, lleno de huevos de pascua y referencias. Personajes muy bien definidos y que te sorprenden.
Profile Image for Astronatu.
57 reviews
June 20, 2023
Ten komiks to idealna polecajka dla osób z ADHD - dużo się dzieje, wiele historii i prawie w żadnym momencie się nie nudzisz.

Profile Image for Leslie Carnahan.
1,419 reviews15 followers
October 26, 2023
What a cool concept for a book! A gaggle of storybook characters are jumping from story to story to write in the plot holes of said story. Really neat. Really enjoy the character designs as well. :)
Profile Image for Sebastien.
398 reviews2 followers
January 29, 2024
As always great art .The was interesting but there was a lot of ideas and maybe not enough time spend on each of them.and to have the characters more developed. It was a fun read.
Profile Image for Noemi Gianc.
108 reviews
April 9, 2025
I disegni sono molto belli e ricchi di particolari, ma la storia è molto confusionaria e con molti vuoti di trama.
Profile Image for Shaun.
159 reviews2 followers
May 13, 2025
This was a lot of fun, especially issue #3. Don’t try to find holes in the story, just go with it.
Profile Image for Jonathan Waugh.
152 reviews3 followers
December 23, 2025
Pretty solid premise, just wish there was more plot wise. Loved the art though, and the characters are all cool enough that I want to see more of them.
Profile Image for Avalle Rei.
1,141 reviews16 followers
June 24, 2023
Es una historia entretenida en la que un grupo de personajes de libros que no iban a ver la luz son reclutados para salvar las tramas de otros libros que si tienen mayor posibilidades de ser publicados. Ese super equipo de edición de historias se lleva Fallos de Guión.
En una de sus misiones hay un problema y las cosas no terminan demasiado bien, a partir de ese momento se crea un problema en el programa donde un gusano de historias las está destrozando. Por eso, el equipo con su nueva adquisición se dispone a parar a ese gusano que va destrozando historias con posibilidades. Ya que sí destruye demasiadas todo el programa desaparecerá, con todas las historias, incluyéndolos a ellos mismos.
La historia tiene un punto divertido e irónico con los personajes, hace referencia a un montón de libros y series conocidas por todos.
Tiene acción, misterio, compañerismo, un ligero drama y la no típica lucha del bien y el mal.
Y el tema es muy original, aunque a mí me parece una crítica ligera al sector.

La edición es alucinante, tapas duras con sobrecubierta, a todo color en papel satinado, eso sí, cuidado con las huellas que hay muchas escenas con los bordes en negro.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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