Everybody get in the Supermobile, we’re taking a trip! In Supergirl’s Family Vacation, the newest book from DC’s Young Readers line, we find a 13-year-old Kara Zor-El enlisting her cousin and his family to journey with her across the stars to rediscover the final bastion of her Kryptonian heritage. Sounds great, right? Well, it soon becomes clear that no matter how far you travel from Earth, it can be pretty tough to escape the shadow of Superman. With this timely new middle grade graphic novel set to debut this very week, we spoke to writer Brandon T. Snider about who his Supergirl is, how to tell a Supergirl story and the opportunities that vacationing with the family provides.

The first thing that came to mind as I read Supergirl’s Family Vacation was a quote from Grant Morrison about writing Superman: “Superman has the same problems we do, but on a Paul Bunyan scale.” Did I detect that as your approach to giving Supergirl a vacation? What kind of vacation experience did you draw from?

I must admit I was dying to tell a Super-Family story with that specific cast and to see them on vacation being tested in weird ways felt like character gold to me. A bit of sitcom, a bit of action and a bunch of adventure. The idea began with Superman and my frustration when people say he’s “too perfect.” Drives me insane. He’s not perfect! So I crafted a story around an oversight early on in Superman’s career and when we got the greenlight, we rightly put Kara in the main role and the whole thing bloomed in a million different ways.

The vacation concept allows us to play. It gives these characters an opportunity to be vulnerable in a natural way. This isn’t a mission, it’s playtime. When I was a kid, vacation was where I could roleplay. No one I met at the pool knew I was being bullied back at school so I could be more outgoing. I had less fear. Sometimes we act out of character on vacations, so this kind of story gave us free reign to explore everyone’s personalities. Also, a vacation to Argo gives Kara a level of control she usually doesn’t have. She knows Krypton, Kal doesn’t. She can be the tour guide and know-it-all and that prospect is very exciting to her.

What stories did you look to for inspiration when assembling and writing your version of the Super-Family?

Grant Morrison’s Superman work is up at the top. Sterling Gates’ Supergirl, specifically the New Krypton stuff. Peter Tomasi’s Super Sons. Mark Waid’s Superman work over the decades is always something I return to. I was really touched that he said kind words about our book. For background noise, I watched the Donner film, Helen Slater’s Supergirl and episodes of Justice League. What’s funny is that some of the inspiration came from a surprising source which was the DC League of Super Pets movie. I watched it on a plane years ago and there was a humor in it, specifically with Superman, that I liked and thought was worth exploring.

There have been a lot of different takes on Supergirl’s origin story over the years. How do you see Supergirl’s backstory here, in the version of the universe we see in this comic?

One of the more enjoyable things about writing for this line is that we can play fast and loose with continuity. We don’t need to get into too many specifics and timelines. There’s no space for it and the readership understands the basics anyway. Kara’s backstory is the same as it’s always been. She came to Earth as a girl and found baby Kal-El had grown up to become the most famous hero in the world. In our story, Argo City was somehow able to escape Krypton’s destruction, drifting through the cosmos undetected until Kara finds it while stargazing. That’s what sets our story in motion.

Kara’s origin is so traumatic. Her parents were like, “Hi! Everything and everyone you know is going to die, so get in this ship, and when you wake up, you’ll be on another planet but alive! Also, you’ll be taking care of a baby. Good luck!”

That’s intense. We deal with where that leaves her mentally and then push forward into our adventure. Our artist, Sarah Leuver, does a brilliant job of capturing the subtleties of Kara’s emotional state throughout. We see the joy, the pain and everything in between. It’s really beautiful.

Apart from our core cast of Superman, Lois, Jon and Kara, there are some really interesting character choices in this book, from establishing Natasha Irons as Kara’s best friend to the surprise Bronze Age Justice League villain. How did you assemble your cast of supporting characters for Supergirl’s Family Vacation?

I love the DC catalog of characters. Truly. Madly. Deeply. My Who’s Whos are professionally bound. There’s nothing I love more than leisurely flipping through the DC Encyclopedia and seeing if anything jumps out at me. Natasha Irons makes sense as Kara’s best friend. Their parental figures work together. Their families are close. They’re a bit of a yin and yang with Kara being impulsive and Natasha being judicious. I also love that Jon looks up to Natasha. She’s the cool older friend he wants to hang out with.

For the character you’re mentioning that I’m not going to spoil, I wanted to use someone who’d been sitting on the shelf for a long while and their power set just happened to be perfect for our story. Of course, in the three years it took to make this book and take it to market, said character ended up popping into the DCU, but that’s the nature of comics. There’s also one repurposed deep cut character in this book who has a storied DCU history which we allude to briefly. There are so many great DC Comics characters, I could select them from a fishbowl and make it work.

What do you think can be done in a Supergirl story that can’t be done in a Superman story?

Superman wants to be an example. He knows his own impact. He doesn’t just say whatever is on his mind at any given time. He also looks for ways to get his message across inoffensively. Supergirl, however, doesn’t have those same self-imposed constraints. She says what she’s thinking. If something doesn’t sit right with her, she’s not going to mince words or censor herself. Part of that is her youth. Part of that is her ability to see things Superman can’t. They both have a sense of right and wrong, but Supergirl is unafraid to point out inconsistences.

It’s probably no coincidence that we’re seeing this Supergirl-led book coming out a month before a major Supergirl movie. Based on what we’ve seen, what can you say about what your Supergirl and that Supergirl have in common?

I haven’t read Woman of Tomorrow because I didn’t want it to influence our story, but outside of immense tragedy, I think they both share a willingness to push forward. It’s not easy, but what other choice is there? Kara isn’t someone who’s just going to give up. She’s also a helper. If someone is in need, she isn’t going to let them suffer. Also, I just bought Woman of Tomorrow this past weekend and will finally be reading it before the film comes out!

As a middle grade graphic novel, this might be a lot of kids’ first exposure to the Superman Family in comics. What do you hope they take away from it?

I hope readers will see an honesty and warmth in these characters and the family unit they’ve created. I love Clark as a father. It’s a role he was born to be. It’s nice to see him try to manage being Superman and Dad. Lois is, of course, one of the best reporters ever. We get to see her be that and so much more. Jon is a growing boy with a big appetite and a desire to join the family business. His purity of heart and fierce protectiveness is on full display. Natasha is a genius inventor who’s meant for big things. She’s also one of the best friends anyone could ever have.

As for Kara, she’s a resilient young woman who learns how to shed the trappings of her past and move forward into the future. If that doesn’t make her a hero, I don’t know what does.
 

Supergirl’s Family Vacation by Brandon T. Snider and Sarah Leuver is available this week at bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers as a softcover graphic novel.