New episodes of The Penguin air Sundays on HBO and Max.
The second episode of The Penguin, titled Inside Man, contains an interesting Easter Egg that references Batman: The Long Halloween, one of the most famous stories of the Dark Knight. The comic book series, composed of 13 issues and written by Jeph Loeb with drawings by Tim Sale, had a notable influence on the 2022 film The Batman and also inspired some plot elements of the new spin-off series.
The Penguin continues to weave together elements of the Batman world, recalling the classic mythology of the character
The Long Halloween tells a complex investigation by Batman, Captain Jim Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent, who team up to unmask a serial killer known as Holiday. The murders, all linked to the holidays, mainly target members of the powerful Falcone family, one of the main mafia clans in Gotham City.
In The Penguin's Inside Man, the homage to this iconic comic book series is evident during the funeral of Berto, played by Michael Zegen, who echoes the comic book counterpart of Alberto Falcone, one of the protagonists of The Long Halloween. During the ceremony, archive footage from New Year's Eve recalls the setting of the comic, where Alberto is killed on that holiday, or so it seems. In reality, as revealed later in the comics, Alberto fakes his own death to continue committing more murders.
The Penguin episode also introduces the figure of Sofia Falcone, played by Cristin Milioti, a central character in both the comics and the television adaptation. As in the comics, Sofia is presented as a lethal force within the Falcone family. The comic book series Batman: Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, further explores her dark side, revealing her as the serial killer Hangman. Although the plot details of The Penguin differ from those of the original, her role as a manipulator and central figure in the mafia feud is maintained.
Source: comicbook