Marvel’s The Avengers in The Veracity Trap Turns Comic Book Reality Upside Down with a Meta Twist

Marvel fans have something new to get excited about—The Avengers in The Veracity Trap, a fresh original graphic novel from Abrams ComicArts’ MarvelArts line, is here. This book is the latest creation from writer Chip Kidd and artist Michael Cho, and it dives deep into the wild, unpredictable world of Marvel comics. If you love classic Avengers chaos, meta twists, and some serious Silver Age style, this one’s for you.

Introduction to The Avengers in The Veracity Trap graphic novel
Behind-the-scenes insights from artist Michael Cho
How the story pays tribute to Marvel’s meta history
Highlights of the book’s unique art and writing style
Where to get the graphic novel

Classic Avengers, With a Meta Spin

The Avengers in The Veracity Trap starts off in familiar territory: Loki is causing trouble, there’s a monster army, and the Avengers are brawling in Asgard. However, things quickly take a turn for the unexpected. Instead of just fighting villains, the team finds themselves confronting reality itself. According to the creators, this twist fits perfectly with Marvel’s long tradition of flipping its own rules.

A Nod to Marvel’s Origins

Back in 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Avengers #1 was all about mashing up heroes like Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. The new book follows that same spirit of chaos and fun. But this time, writer Chip Kidd and artist Michael Cho turn up the meta factor, asking: what if the real threat isn’t a supervillain, but the truth behind heroism itself?

Michael Cho’s Artistic Journey

Michael Cho, whose art is inspired by the bold lines of Silver Age comics, brings a lot of personal flair to this project. He shares, “When Chip first sent me his story treatment, I was about three paragraphs in before I started laughing and saying, ‘This is BONKERS!'” Cho also admits the metafictional angle made him both excited and nervous: “It’s one thing to read a crazy, metaverse-spanning story… it’s completely another to actually break it down into little pictures that make the story make sense. Hopefully, I succeeded!”

Cho also talks about his struggle and eventual breakthrough with drawing Thor. “It wasn’t until this book that I finally figured out how to draw him. This image is actually my favorite drawing of Thor ever, as it comes closest to what I pictured in my head. And of course, it’s completely Jack Kirby inspired, but then, the entire book is my love letter to Jack Kirby.”

The book is packed with playful details, like the Avengers’ old nicknames for each other. Cho says, “Thor being called Goldilocks always made me smile, so I’m glad Chip used it in the script. It shows that they’re pals, and crack on each other just like us lesser mortals. I also love Hulk’s line on this page.”

Cho continues, “This page is full of great dialogue from Thor and when I read it, I was cracking up. Chip did such a fantastic job on it and I can also imagine him cackling as he wrote it. There were many other inside jokes that didn’t make the cut during rewrites and dialogue tweaks. My challenge here was to throw in some visual interest, rather than just draw a bunch of heads looking at the reader. The bottom panel is my favourite, with Hulk’s reaction. Really, really inside-baseball note: When I was drawing Thor’s expression in this panel, I was thinking about how Alicia Masters looked in [Fantastic Four #49] when she was pleading to the Silver Surfer about why humans shouldn’t be consumed by Galactus. It’s the panel where she goes, ‘We have hearts…we have souls! Can you not see that? Are you as blind as I?!’ Deep cut, I know, but that’s how my brain works.”

Another standout moment? Cho says, “Again, another page of hilarious dialogue. I personally loved the ‘we are almost never in register!’ line the most.”

As the story gets even wilder, Cho reveals, “When I read Chip’s script, this is the page that made my eyes go wide, as I knew then that this story was going to be nuts! My real studio doesn’t quite look as big as this, but it had to be big and have high ceilings to accommodate a later fight scene. The art on the walls is a mix of some of my favourite Kirby posters and real world artwork on my walls. The small cowboy drawing below the word balloon in panel 4 is actually a drawing of me, by my friend Darwyn Cooke, given to me as a Christmas present. It’s also an inside joke which is too complicated to explain.”