Review by Ian Keogh

Sometimes the best holidays are the ones that don’t go as expected, and that’s exemplified in Supergirl’s Family Vacation. In this all-ages version of Supergirl she lives with Superman, Lois Lane and their son Jon, and it’s time for holidays. Her expectation is that they’re going to teleport to Argo City, a lost floating city that was once part of Krypton, and better still her friend Natasha is coming along. Superman has other plans: it’s going to be a road trip (through space).

Supergirl would rather get to Argo straightaway instead of accepting invitations to alien planets and stopping off to put Lobo in his place. Readers, though, will want to the stopovers to continue forever as Brandon T. Snider ensures they’re just so much fun, and along the way even Supergirl grudgingly comes to accept she’s enjoying herself.

Much of the appeal is down to Sarah Leuver’s cartooning, the charm of which is seen on the cover. She constantly shows how people are feeling and never oversells the joke. Given the intended audience, a fine line is needed when Superman’s essentially drunk. It’s kryptonite, not alcohol responsible, but the effects are much the same, and Leuver maximises the possibilities. The moods shift, and when danger arises she pitches it at exactly the right nightmare-avoiding level.

Snider obviously knows his Supergirl and Superman history, and includes plenty of in-jokes, and while Supergirl is the primary focus, each of the family gets their turn in the spotlight somewhere along the way. It’s quite the eye-opening journey for Supergirl, who has her assumptions challenged, but ultimately ends up having as a good a time as we do. Supergirl’s Family Vacation is a graphic novel aimed at children that adults also ought to love.