This week, (August 5th), Abrams ComicArts and Marvel Arts collaborated to publish an exciting new Avengers story written by Chip Kidd and illustrated by the talented Michael Cho: The Avengers in the Veracity Trap. One only needs to look at the cover to see the respect and homage that Kidd and Cho paid to the glory days of Marvel. But the story yields enough twists and turns to entertain even newcomers to the Avengers.
We were fortunate to catch up with the talented Mr. Cho ahead of the August 5th release. In our discussion, we explored his artistic beginnings, his love for Kirby, and the efforts he and Kidd put into honoring the classic Avengers. Please join us in welcoming Michael Cho to GVN Talking Comics.
Artistic Origins
GVN: Thank you for a small part of your day, Michael. Since this is our first chance to chat, let’s start with your creative origins. When did you first take an interest in art, and whose work excited you enough to pursue that endeavor?
Michael: I was always drawing, and some of my earliest memories are of drawing. I was born in South Korea and I vividly remember copying drawings of giant robots and Astroboy as a kid. When I came to Canada at the age of 6, I gravitated to comics and cartoons, especially the early Marvel comics which I discovered in paperback reprints at used bookstores. I loved the work of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, hence it’s a true pleasure to repay some of that joy I received from reading their stories by working on this book. This book is my love letter to Jack Kirby and is dedicated to him.
Mixing Fine Arts and Comics
GVN: You have worked in multiple genres to great effect, but you tend to gravitate towards comic work (much to comic fans’ delight). Is that by preference, or is it more a matter of taking the work that is offered?
Michael: Half and half. I’ve had something of an odd career, as I am restless by nature. I started out as a fine arts painter, then became an illustrator and later a cartoonist. I still love illustration, particularly editorial illustration for magazines, but that industry has steadily diminished during my career and I’ve watched its decline with great sadness.
However, I’ve also had a deep and lifelong love of comics in all forms, whether newspaper strips, autobiographical comics or superhero adventure. And it’s my nature that, when I love something in art, I want to try my hand at it. I’ve had the luxury of doing the work that I love, and there is still a 12 year old child inside me that delights in drawing superheroes. As long as I can tap into that joy, I’ll continue to mine that vein.
Focusing on the Work
GVN: I mentioned your comic work, which has garnered a Joe Shuster and a Ringo Award. Does that kind of success ever make you feel you have accomplished any goals you might have had, or does it motivate you to stretch your talents even further? (It would be easy to rest on your laurels).
MIchael: To be honest, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful or egotistical, I don’t ever think about awards. I’ve won a few, and I am very grateful and appreciative, but the true motivator is just doing the best work I can and seeing how far I can journey as an artist. I don’t ever want to short change the craft and disrespect the efforts of those who came before me.
And the greatest reward I’ve received over the years has been the friendship and respect of peers and artists that I admire. Occasionally, I’ll meet artists that were huge inspirations for me when I was younger and find out that they know who I am and like my stuff. That, to me, is the ultimate reward and validation and I am immensely moved and humbled when that happens.
The Avengers in the Veracity Trap
GVN: Your latest collaboration is with talented writer Chip Kidd for Abrams ComicArts and MarvelArts: The Avengers in The Veracity Trap. How did this partnership come about, and what was your inspiration for your interpretation of the iconic Avengers? (It has a real Jack Kirby vibe to it…can’t go wrong with that).
Michael: Chip and I became friends years ago, when he asked if I could draw a Batman Black and White story for editor Mark Chiarello. I was amazed that he wanted me to draw his tale, and we became friends. A few years later, he was the editor of my graphic novel, Shoplifter, at Pantheon.
Chip could tell this better, but when Charlie Kochman at Abrams asked him to write an OGN for their Marvelarts line, he suggested I draw it. Chip then contacted me asking what I’d be interested in working on. We discussed our mutual love of silver-age Marvel and the sheer delight and positive energy of those comics, and decided on doing a story with the Avengers. His initial treatment featured half the Marvel universe in it, but Charlie steered the ship toward more manageable waters. Chip’s script was bonkers and hilarious and I got what he was trying to do immediately.
This book is, as I said earlier, a love letter to Jack Kirby, so I’m glad you can feel the Kirby vibe. He’s the single greatest inspiration to me whenever I draw superheroes, so I deliberately set out to channel Kirby as much as my humble talents would allow. There are a few moments in the book where I feel I came close, and those are the pages I’m most proud of.
The Work Process with Chip
GVN: In working with Chip, did he give you a full script to work with and set you loose, or did you and he discuss the direction he hoped the story would take, art-wise?
Michael: The process with this book was pretty organic. Chip is incredibly generous as a writer and left a lot of room for me to do my thing. He had the story already, and then we had discussions about how it should be broken down. We’ve always been on the same wavelength so I understood what he was going for right away. And what he was going for was a tribute to the silver-age Marvel comics without being an outright recreation. We had discussions with Alex Ross where I explained that this book wasn’t an attempt to do that like say, Alan Moore’s 1963 series. It’s not a time capsule, it’s a love letter.
I gave him a hilarious mandate asking for only 4-6 panels per page, so that I could add or remove panels as needed for flow. He has a really unique way of writing a script – he writes in InDesign with his text in panels! If I showed you the script, you would cackle in delight. It’s full of example art pulled from everywhere.
One of the funnier things that happened was that he had written splash pages for each of the heroes and had attached old Marvel pin-up pages as examples. I thought that was amazing and suggested we keep the “A Marvel Masterwork Pin-up!” caption box from those examples and incorporate them into the script. The whole book is full of little touches like that which we came to organically and added to the flavour we were aiming for.
Michael’s Wish List
GVN: With this exciting Avengers story now under your belt, and having worked with such characters as the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and even Spider-Man, is there a character, either Marvel or DC, that you haven’t illustrated that you would love to put your talents to?
Michael: THE NEW GODS. Period. That one is my holy grail. I love all things Kirby and the Fourth World is my very favourite Kirby. I even have a story and pitch for it somewhere at DC that is the best thing I’ve ever written. Hopefully one day it gets made and you can see my very best work.
GVN: Thank you again, Michael. Before I go, I wanted to give one last chance to talk about this amazing book. It brought back so much nostalgia for me.
Michael: Thanks for your time. I have nothing further to add other than that I hope you enjoy the Avengers in the Veracity Trap. I hope it makes you smile. And I want to thank Chip for writing it and Charlie Kochman and Alex Ross at Abrams Marvelarts for spearheading it. Oh and one spoiler: Chip takes a hammer to the face from Thor in the story and lives.
The Avengers in the Veracity Trap!
By Chip Kidd
Art by Michael Cho
Abrams ComicArts | August 5, 2025
U.S. $25.99 | CAN $32.99 | U.K. £18.99
Hardcover | 64 Pages
8.5 x 11 Inches | Full-color illustrations throughout
Hardcover ISBN: 9781419770678
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
