The Avengers in the Veracity Trap! Preview

 

Abrams ComicArts featured this during their panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The writer and artist were both there, and they made the story sound super-fun! Thankfully, they sent me a copy so I could tell you about it! Here's all the info from Abrams ComicArts:

 

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 

Abrams ComicArts and MarvelArts to Publish The Avengers in The Veracity Trap

Loki Goes Toe to Toe with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Original Graphic Novel from Chip Kidd and Michael Cho

Following Alex Ross’s Award-winning, bestseller Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Abrams ComicArts is continuing its MarvelArts line with The Avengers in The Veracity Trap, an original graphic novel from Eisner Award winner Chip Kidd and acclaimed artist Michael Cho. The mind-bending, visually sumptuous saga will take the Avengers and the reader on an adventure that questions the very nature of heroism, villainy, and existence. 

The Avengers in The Veracity Trap begins with an epic battle in Asgard, as Loki, the god of mischief, comes into possession of a weapon of unimaginable power and assembles an army of otherworldly monsters in an effort to carry out his evil plans. Cue the Avengers—Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Giant-Man, and the Wasp—who meet this horrifying throng of beasts head-on as a thrilling, knock-down drag-out fight ensues.

But when the smoke clears, what appears to be a typically raucous comic book take-down is revealed to be something very, very different—and very, very terrifying. This discovery threatens to destroy the Avengers in a way that Loki or any other foe never has before. Because this time the enemy is . . . the Truth.

"Writing this book was really just an excuse to see Michael Cho depict glorious, epic, jaw-dropping sequential storytelling with these iconic characters that we love so much. He more than delivered." says writer Chip Kidd. "Oh, and it was also my ultimate comics ego trip, which Abrams and Marvel actually allowed me to take. I still don’t know why, but I am beyond grateful."

"I’ve always held a special spot in my super-hero loving heart for the Avengers, especially the early Marvel age comics they appeared in. is a tribute to the wonder, the delight, and the zany 'anything could happen!' spirit of those stories," explains Michael Cho. "Chip wrote a fantastic and heartfelt story and, in drawing this book, I tried my best to channel some of the energy and, especially, the joy that crackled from the pages of those classic comics."

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

Thanks to Abrams ComicArts and Superfan Promotions for sharing this preview with us.

 

Chip Kidd is an award–winning graphic designer, writer, and editor at large at Pantheon. A three–time Eisner Award winner, he has written and designed more than a dozen books on comics, including Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal, Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, and Marvelocity: The Marvel Comics Art of Alex Ross. He lives in New York City

Michael Cho is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Toronto, Canada. These days you can see his art on comic book covers for Marvel, DC Comics, and other companies. He’s also drawn for Star Wars, Star Trek, Fortnite, Disney, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even the Joe Biden presidential campaign. Along the way, Cho has won a few awards for his work and published an art book of his drawings, Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes, with Drawn & Quarterly in 2012. His first graphic novel, Shoplifter, was published in 2014 by Pantheon and was a New York Times bestseller.

Founded in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in publishing art and illustrated books. The company continues to publish critically acclaimed and bestselling works in the areas of art, photography, cooking, craft, comics, interior and garden design, entertainment, fashion, and popular culture as well as narrative non-fiction and new works of fiction for adults; children’s books ranging from middle grade to young adult fiction to picture books to board books. ABRAMS creates and distributes brilliantly designed books with the highest production values under the following imprints: Abrams; Abrams ComicArts; Megascope; Surely Books; Abrams Image; Abrams Press; The Overlook Press; Cernunnos; Cameron + Company; Abrams Books for Young Readers; Amulet Books; Abrams Appleseed; and Magic Cat. ABRAMS also distributes books for Booth-Clibborn Editions, Alain Ducasse Édition, Èditions de La Martiniére, Editions BPI, Global Golf Group, Lucky Spool, Milky Way Picture Books, The Museum of Modern Art, SelfMadeHero, Tate Publishing, V&A Publishing, and The Vendome Press.

For another great book from Abrams ComicArts see my preview of The Red Badge Of Courage Graphic Novel.

A Final Word--For Now--On The Avengers

I don't know about you, but I'm amazed at how much more information is instantly available to us than was the case back in the late 1990s, when I first discovered "The Avengers."  I'm also tremendously grateful to everyone who makes Wikipedia the repository of knowledge that it's become.  It may not be the final answer on any subject, but it provides an excellent starting point to find any answer I seek.  (We also support Wikipedia, which you might consider doing if, like us, you value the service it provides).  This situation makes me wonder how many more faulty assumptions that Wikipedia could correct, if only I thought of questioning what I think I know.

If you've not yet grown acquainted with John Steed and Emma Peel, you might consider doing so now.  They're a stylish couple of British agents who solve all sorts of fantastic mysteries.  The show has a whimsical air, and Steed and Peel exhibit such great chemistry that they're a pleasure to watch.  I hope this set sells well, and A&E releases previous seasons of "The Avengers" with John Steed and former partner Catherine Gale, as well as the final season with new partner Tara King, and at a similarly reasonable price.  That could reward long-term fans of the series, and attract a new generation of viewers.

Honor Blackman plays Catherine Gale, John Steed's partner in earlier seasons. These shows are less whimsical, more straight-forward spy stories, yet I find them as enjoyable as the Emma Peel years.  The stark B&W imagery contributes to the more serious tone, making the stories even more compelling.

Emma Peel hands over care of John Steed to Tara King.
(That's Diana Rigg as Emma Peel on the right).

If you've always been mystified as to how "The Avengers" saved England (and hence, the world) from all kinds of nefarious plots during the Cold War 1960s, the Emma Peel Megaset represents the perfect starting point to begin your investigation. Who knows?  If enough of us start talking about John Steed and Emma Peel again, Hollywood might make another movie about them, which could lead to a new series of "The Avengers" on TV.  And that would be great, because given the dangers of the modern world, we need all the protectors we can get.

Dragon Dave

Catching Up With Emma Peel: Part 2

In my last post, I related how "The Avengers" Emma Peel 16-DVD Megaset only seemed to have half of the 1965 and 1966 episodes featuring John Steed and Emma Peel.  Confused, I headed over to www.wikipedia.org in search of an episode list.

There, I learned (to my dismay) that Diana Rigg didn't play Emma Peel for three full seasons of "The Avengers." Her first season consisted of 26 episodes, which were transmitted from October 1965 through March 1966.  Nor did she have a proper introductory episode, to hand over the role of Steed's partner from Catherine Gale to Emma Peel, at the end of the prior season.  Another actress was actually hired first, but halfway through the first episode, "The Town of No Return," the production team stopped filming, fired the actress, and drafted in Rigg as a replacement. Then they re-filmed the story from the beginning.  (Imagine that!  Emma Peel was the most popular companion John Steed ever had, yet Diana Rigg wasn't the producers' first choice)!  After finishing the 1965/66 season, Rigg portrayed Emma Peel for a second season consisted of 24 episodes, all transmitted during 1967.  

Adding together the 1965/66 season and the 1967 season, this leaves one episode remaining. That belongs to the 1968/69 season, a mammoth production block consisting of 33 episodes, which was transmitted from September 1968 through May 1969.  That sixth-and-final season starred Linda Thorson as Tara King, who became John Steed's new companion. Unlike the abrupt handover from Catherine Gale to Emma Peel, Diana Rigg reprised her role as Emma Peel for that first story, "The Forget-Me-Knot," a nice gesture that gave closure to Peel fans, and offered a fitting introduction to her replacement Tara King.  

Of course, I could have just looked at the
episode list on the back of the package.
(Had so many of the discs not fallen off their spindles,
I probably would have).

So, while the Emma Peel Megaset technically covers three season, really there's only two, with one additional episode. But at least I've got all of them now on DVD.  Even though half the discs had fallen loose, they all played fine, which came as a huge relief.  More importantly, I can fit the discs in sleeves in a DVD storage book, which take up a lot less space than 24 VHS tapes.  Picture quality is fine; I suspect that these are the same DVDs that A&E produced in the '90s, without any additional remastering.  There are no special features, aside from two (yes, exactly two) still photographs from each episode.  Still, given that I originally purchased the 3-tape VHS sets for $30 each, to purchase the equivalent of all eight now for $25 seems an unbeatable deal. 

Frankly, after spending $240 on all those VHS tapes, even a list price of $50 seems reasonable.  

Dragon Dave

Catching Up With Emma Peel: Part 1

While searching the internet late last year, I found this: a 16 Disc set of the 1960s British TV show "The Avengers."  At the time, it was on sale for $25.  This was too good an opportunity to miss, so I sent for it, and a few days later, it arrived on my doorstep.  There was only one worrying sign: when I picked up the container, it rattled.

As it turned out, more than half of the DVDs had fallen off their plastic storage spindles.  This could suggest that the way the carrying case was constructed was inadequate, but it could also have to do with the way www.barnesandnoble.com shipped it.  Instead of placing the container in a box, and insulating it with packing peanuts or bubble wrap, their shipping people had simply mailed it inside a formfitting cardboard envelope.  Concerned by the condition of the discs, I assigned priority status to watching "The Avengers" over other TV shows.

The case promised three seasons of episodes, and I was looking forward to watching them all.  My wife and I first grew acquainted with John Steed and Emma Peel back in the late 1990s, when A&E started releasing the Emma Peel episodes in concert with the new movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman.  Ultimately, we collected all four sets (of 3 VHS tapes each) of the 1967 season, but we could only find Sets 1 & 2 for the 1965 and '66 seasons.  As I watched the 1965 B&W episodes, I enjoyed the episodes I had watched on VHS, and looked forward to discovering those in the second half of the 1965 season.

After four discs, Disc 5 shifted over to 1966 episodes.  This seemed strange, as I had only seen thirteen episodes, and they were all ones I had gotten on VHS.  Oh well, I figured. The other 1965 episodes must be on a later disc.  I must remain patient for now, and enjoy the episodes from the 1966.   

Then, after four more discs, Disc 9 shifted over to the 1967 season. What was going on!?!

Take a breath, Dragon Dave.  Relax!  Compose yourself.  Okay?  Then carry on.  

When I only had three discs left, the menu for Disc 14 showed 1967 episodes.  At this point, I got worried, as I remembered episodes from the 1967 season that I had not yet seen. What was going on?  The package had promised to have all three seasons!  So where were the second halves of the 1965 and 1966 seasons?  

This post will conclude tomorrow with Part 2.

Dragon Dave

Beware Frank Bellamy's Winged Avenger

Marvelous Monday Comics

In The Avengers episode "Winged Avenger," someone is killing ruthless industrialists.  Government agents Emma Peel and John Steed find their clawed corpses in locked, upper-story offices.

At first, Emma Peel doesn't notice this comic lying among the papers knocked off the desk of one victim.

But when another ends up dead, on the grounds of his estate, she remembers one panel from the comic, and Steed agrees on the striking similarity.

This leads Emma Peel and John Steed to the offices of Winged Avengers Enterprises, where they find a man dressed up in the Winged Avenger costume, poised to savage beautiful women with his deadly claws.  But even if the killer wore the costume, how did he climb up the sheer walls of office buildings?  And who might have used the costume to murder the heartless businessmen?  The artist who is gradually taking over every aspect of the comic book's production?  The writer who is growing more and more frustrated with his partner?  Or the model, who sometimes leaves the office at the end of the day, so comfortable in the costume that he's forgotten he's wearing it?

"Winged Avenger" features lots of comic book imagery, drawn by Frank Bellamy, a British artist who died too young.  He may be most remembered by fans of the comics version of Gerry Anderson's Sci-Fi puppet TV show "Thunderbirds."  Die-hard Monty Python's Flying Circus fans can also find his artwork in Terry Jones and Michael Palin's children's book Bert Fegg's Nasty Book For Boys & Girls, which satirized British annuals of the period, and recycled Monty Python scripts.  That is, if you can find a copy.

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Emma Peel & Daleks

Related Internet Links
Watch "Winged Avenger"
Frank Bellamy at Wikipedia

Emma Peel & Daleks

In The Avengers episode "Death At Bargain Prices," the murder of a fellow agent causes John Steed and Emma Peel to investigate a nearby department store.  While Steed researches the store's history and owner, Mrs. Peel takes a job there.  After a brief stint in Lingerie, she ends up working in the toy department.

A fellow worker may be interested in Emma's legs, but she's more interested in the Daleks on sale.  Like so many, she can't resist their siren song.  She must hold one, and admire it, before affixing it to her back wall display.

As Steed and Emma Peel discover, the death of their fellow agent is linked to the disappearance of a nuclear scientist.  One night, they ransack the store, looking for a bomb that could destroy London.

Like Emma Peel, my wife and I find Daleks irresistible. And why not? They're a highly intelligent species.  Might the Daleks have given Emma Peel a hint to the bomb's existence?  Perhaps they communicated it to her on a psychic wavelength?

Now, to buy my wife the leather spaceman outfit Emma is modeling.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
Watch "Death At Bargain Prices" 
Buy The Avengers Emma Peel DVD Megaset