Avengers of Truth Trap!
Author: Chip Kidd
Artist: Michael Cho
Publisher: Abrams Comicarts
Publication date: August 2025
Was there a time in recent memories that caused superheroes to evoke more real hope and inspiration than this summer? The audience responded fiercely to the optimism and pleas of a better world, both in Superman and Fantastic Four. It is based on two of the most influential comics in the history of the genre. A few years after people were the most imaginative ideas for this genre, being superheroes using the power of Gory Debauchery, superheroes are once again inspiring… Hope?
Two of the most influential superhero characters, Superman and the Fantastic Four, currently have films embodying optimism, imagination and heroism. So what a perfect time for a book like Trap of Truth! Chip Kid and Michael Cho appear. While using it in a very specific era for this particular superhero team, creators have found ways to create classic superhero stories, not feel like stocky or just for genre lovers. The comic embodies the exciting Silver Age optimism, but it has a sensibility to modern audiences.
Art by Michael Cho
Avengers of Truth Trap! It embodies a very specific type of Marvel story from the Silver Age. Those who recognize these characters exist in fictional worlds. While fighting Loki, the Avengers confront a vortex of magical truth. This magical creation meets them… Author Chip Kidd and artist Michael Cho are working on the very books we are reading.
Art by Michael Cho
That’s meta and weird. However, this kind of story occurred frequently in early Marvel stories. The idea is to have a Marvel comic in Marvel universe, taking Fantastic Four #10, where Dr. Doom is attacked by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s offices. The creators have met their creations throughout the history of comics.
Kid and Cho led them to the fun Mobius strip that will become this comic. It asks what comes first. Do creators with heroes inspire their readers to higher heights, or do heroes encourage creators who were once readers to become better people?
When the heroes face fictional existence, they start to wonder what it is for and for what it is, and become frightened by what the two creators put these heroes on. But both sides embrace a symbiotic relationship that brings life to every creative effort. The heroes demand the creators for examples set by the heroes, and strive to ensure that the creators thrive. Avengers of Truth Trap! I know that relationships with fiction are two-way.
Art by Michael Cho
But at the heart of it all, what makes the book special is how Marvel Comics accepts something so different when it first appeared, and why they resonate so deeply with their readers. Kidd’s script is hip and entertaining, but is full of characters that embody the idea that these heroes are vulnerable. They are people with immeasurable power to do the right thing despite their flaws. Marvel heroes may be down, but they will never leave the fight.
Most importantly, Cho’s Art brings the same amount of fun and humor to the lawsuit. He nods to the fun things that appeared in early Marvel books, from fake pin-ups to all the quirky monsters that appeared in the 50s. Finn’s fang shape appears on his purple pants! Google and his son Googam pop up! Even the incredible Hulk #2 toad man is heading for this book. When Cho and Kidd characters interact, it’s legally funny. There are so many small character moments between the action.
Still, no matter how much fun Easter eggs (and potentially black sabbath references), it’s the storytelling that really resonates with it. Kid beautifully understands why these characters are amazing, and Cho’s art completely believes in it. When these characters fight, they move like gods. They answer calls for action and give them everything they can. When they are quiet, he gives them pity. His art reminds us of their humanity, and now they doubt themselves and what they can do. Their victory feels so completely and completely as I have seen them come back from their worst.
Art by Michael Cho
Perhaps the most exciting part of the book is how officially ambitious it is for a genre that forgets how adaptable the comic medium is. The limited use of a color palette pays homage to the origins of four colors in the genre as much as expressive tools. Cho uses superhero comic visual syntax that spreads out like double-pages, Kirby-esque page layouts, and how pin-ups explore the nature of the superhero comic itself. This manga serves as both a respect and commentary to the manga that came before him. Cho is a master artist, and this is the biggest display of his talent.
There is a deep love and appreciation in this early, amazing story of the comic. Anything was possible in those comics. Not only are the stories that are said to bring readers to outer space or fictional countries, but also the artistic collaborations that made those stories possible. The superhero genre seemed limited to the recent past. Avengers of Truth Trap! I want to remind us that there is still so much that our heroes can do.
The Avengers of Truth Trap are available from Abrams ComicsArt
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