Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe has received a brilliant continuation with the ongoing The Penguin series, which chronicles the titular schemester’s cunning plan of instigating a gang war in Gotham by pitting the rivalling crime families, Maronis and Falcones, against each other to secure the high seat of Gotham’s underworld for himself. Sofia Falcone, her troubled psyche, her identity as a serial killer, and the dysfunctional relationship she shares with her family members have turned out to be one of the major highlights of the series. Viewers who are acquainted with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween will surely recognize some key plot points the TV series draws from the iconic comic series—where the rivalry between the Maronis and Falcones entered into uncharted territory with the emergence of a serial killer. As the TV series has reached the midpoint of its first season, it seems like more allusions, references, and thematic similarities to the comics will prominently feature in the final four episodes as well. Which is why I will try to break down the key events from The Long Halloween comics to highlight the possible way the first season of The Penguin might wrap up.
Spoilers Ahead
Holiday Killer Strikes
Just like some of the best Batman comics, The Long Halloween focuses more on Bruce Wayne compared to his Caped Crusader alter ego, and from the very beginning of the first issue, a strong influence of the Godfather movie series can be noticed in the narrative progression. Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne, had saved the dreaded kingpin, Carmine ‘The Roman’ Falcone’s life, prompting Bruce to unwittingly end up connected with the mob boss. Carmine tries to pursue Bruce to assist him in laundering his money through Gotham City Bank, which Bruce refuses to help him with, and later, forcing bank president Richard Daniel, Batman ensures Falcone’s blood money stays out of the bank. Richard is assassinated by Carmine’s nephew, Johnny Viti, who himself ends up as the first victim of a new serial killer in Gotham City during Halloween. The killer is later named by the media as a holiday killer after his tendency to assassinate his targets on specific holidays comes to light. Initially, Falcone family members and people under their payroll are hunted by the unknown killer, prompting Carmine and his lackeys to consider the rival Maroni family to be behind the attacks. However, the killer shifts their attention to the Maronis as well, beginning with the death of Luigi Maroni, father of Salvatore Maroni, making both crime families their target. Soon enough, the notorious supervillains of Gotham—Poison Ivy, Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, and even Solomon Grundy—get embroiled in this mess, with no one, including the investigating duo—Batman and Commissioner Jim Gordon—having any clue regarding the identity of the Holiday Killer. For Joker, an enigmatic serial killer taking the limelight away from him feels like an insult, while Ivy works under Carmine’s payroll to entrap Bruce Wayne in her charm. Selina and her alter ego Catwoman engage in a cat and mouse game with Bruce/Batman, occasionally assisting him in the investigation, while Riddler, a genius mastermind himself, becomes invested in finding out the true identity of Holiday Killer.
Months ago before the killings started, Carmine had targeted his nephew, Johnny Viti, as he was going to testify against him in court. However, as Johnny ended up changing his mind at the last moment, Carmine decided to spare his life. However, after Johnny’s death, his mother, Carla Viti – chief of the Chicago underworld, starts suspecting Carmine’s influence in getting her son killed – prompting a family civil war in the process. The angle of Johnny Viti’s betrayal was highlighted differently in The Penguin series, where his affair with Luca Falcone’s wife becomes a vital plot point.
Dent Family Crisis
The Long Halloween functions as much as a Harvey Dent story as it does a Batman narrative. The story almost acts as a spiritual successor to Frank Miller’s seminal Batman classic, Batman: Year One, as straight arrow, tough as nails DA of Gotham City, Harvey Dent, gets introduced to Batman through Gordon as the trio make an effort to dismantle Carmine’s criminal empire—and get entangled in the serial killer investigation in the process. Harvey’s wife, Gilda, feels exasperated by her husband’s workaholic tendencies and wants him to settle down and try to have a child and raise a family. Trouble follows as Carmine sends hitmen to kill the Dents after Harvey and Bats burn down millions of his blood money; however, Harvey and Gilda survive the assassination attempt. Joker pays a visit to the Dent household as well, brutalizing Harvey before leaving—much to Gilda’s horror. You have to keep in mind this version of Harvey doesn’t come from wealth, had a rough childhood, and at present, as he is hell bent to uphold justice by the books, Gotham’s despicable criminal elements test his psyche. At one point, Harvey suspects Bruce after Thomas Wayne’s history with Carmine is brought to light, resulting in Bruce standing trial, but Alfred ends up saving Bruce by pointing out the glaring incompetence of Gotham’s administrative and judicial system during the period. Harvey becomes obsessed with the Holiday killer, Gotham’s dreaded baddies, and the Falcone investigation—ignoring his wife in the process and becoming more like his own abusive father by the day while losing his mental peace. Gilda sighs in regret seeing their family friends, James and Barbara Gordon, enjoying being parents to their newborn and being able to keep their family bond strong despite living in the same cesspool the Dents do.
Falcone Siblings
Carmine’s sharp, neurotic, perceptive son, Alberto Falcone, comes into focus right from the first issue, whose relationship with his father becomes a highlight of the Falcone family story arc. Carmine cares for Alberto and wants him to stay out of the family business for his own good, but Alberto seems to be too eager to prove himself to his father. On New Year’s Eve, Alberto is killed at the hands of the Holiday Killer and is thrown out of a luxury cruise. To find and apprehend the Holiday Killer, Carmine brings his daughter, Sofia Falcone, out of Arkham, who uses her brawn to rattle a few cages in search of this new freak of Gotham. Sofia’s troubling relationship with her father comes to light, as Carmine seems to harbor a disapproving mindset towards her, while all Sofia wants is a gesture of love or affection from her father.
Unlike The Penguin series’ version of Alberto, who seems like an easygoing spoilt brat stereotype so far who doesn’t meddle too much with Carmine’s business, in the comics, Alberto is portrayed to be much more pragmatic, curious and intelligent, determined to win his father’s approval. However, being the youngest son, Alberto was often neglected by Carmine, and in a twisted way to prove his worth, Alberto made a reputation as the Holiday Killer – becoming even more of a notorious presence in Gotham compared to his own father. On the other hand, Sofia Falcone’s portrayal in The Penguin somewhat differs from her comics counterpart, but there are definite similarities as well. Her initial attempts to win Carmine’s approval are similar in both portrayals, but whereas in comics she entered into the world of crime driven by her own will, the series showcases how betrayal from family ended up thrusting her into a life she wanted to consciously avoid. Point to be noted that although Carla Viti is portrayed having different relationships in comics and the series, in both cases she and Sofia used to have a strong bond with each other. The fact that both Falcone siblings were undermined and occasionally pushed aside by Carmine’s lackeys remains constant in both versions.
Holiday Killers
After his father’s death, Sal Maroni approaches Dent to testify against Falcone in the court, but with the help of Dent’s assistant, Vernon Fields, he sneaks acid into the trial and throws it at Harvey—Sal awakens Harvey’s brutal, sadistic, psychopathic alter ego, Two Face, by doing so. As Two Face goes on the run and releases the dreaded criminals of Arkham, Batman seeks help from Calendar Man, who reveals the Holiday Killer will try to attack Sal Maroni next. Staging a prison transfer, Batman and Gordon are able to capture the Holiday Killer at long last, who is revealed to be none other than Alberto Falcone himself, who had previously faked his death and, in order to gain respect from his father, went on this yearlong manic killing spree. Sal Maroni becomes the final victim of the Holiday Killer, but there’s more to that story.
Completely giving in to his Two Face persona, Dent, now assisted by Joker, Ivy, Grundy, Penguin, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter, ends up attacking Sofia and Carmine in the Falcone penthouse and gets interrupted by Batman and Catwoman in the process. In the end, Harvey manages to go scot-free after killing Falcone and kills Vernon Fields as well—becoming the second Holiday Killer in a sense. Dent surrenders to Gordon and Batman, while Sofia is seemingly killed after taking a fall while having a scuffle with Catwoman.
However, the best twist is left for the end, as, distraught after Harvey gets imprisoned, a pensive Gilda burns the evidence, and as she speaks to herself, it is revealed that she was the original Holiday Killer—who started killing Falcone associates with the hopes of taking Harvey’s mind away from the grueling investigation procedure that was taking its toll on him. She killed the first few victims and strongly believes that Harvey was inspired by her actions as well and eliminated the scum of Gotham’s underworld on his own while the credit was given to Alberto Falcone. The series ends with Gilda believing in Harvey’s reformation.
Sofia Falcone appears in the sequel series, Batman: Dark Victory, where she is revealed to have survived the fall and become paraplegic, but in reality, Sofia was only pretending to be paralyzed while taking revenge for her father’s murder by hanging cops to death—thereby becoming the infamous Hangman Killer. Sofia ends up killing her brother Alberto as well and meets her end as Batman tries to stop her from killing Harvey Dent, only for Dent to put a bullet in her brain. In The Penguin series, this multiple serial killer and the Falcone family conspiracies might take shape in a different way in the remaining four episodes, as I suspect that the Hangman Killer was none other than Alberto Falcone. Carmine probably tried to keep his son from getting captured in order to let him ascend the throne of the Falcone crime family instead of Sofia, thereby maintaining the patriarchal status quo of the family. If that proves to be the case, it will be interesting to see in the upcoming episodes of The Penguin, how Sofia copes with the reality that her brother, the only person whom she trusted, ended up becoming the reason for her misery as well.
