Supergirl: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References in "Strange Visitor From Another Planet"

STRANGE VISITOR FROM ANOTHER PLANET

This is one of those episodes where the title itself is an Easter egg.

In The Adventures of Superman TV series and radio shows, the Man of Steel was referred to in the opening narration as a "strange visitor from another planet, with powers and abilities far beyond those or mortal men."

Much later, the cosmic entity known as Kismet would come to Earth and, taking a discarded variant costume worn briefly by Superman, become a character called Strange Visitor. Besides Kismet and Superman, that costume -- pictured above -- was also used by Livewire at one point, during a brief period where she tried to reform.

ADAM FOSTER

So, this week we finally get to see Adam Foster, Cat Grant's son, in the flesh.

This is the first we get to know very much at all about him, but of course there's already been plenty of talk about another Adam...

If you've been following our coverage of Supergirl, you'll know that we've talked about Adam Morgan/Grant on more than one occasion. The son of Cat Grant and business mogul Joe Morgan, Adam was a major motivator for Cat Grant when she was struggling with a drinking problem. As a society columnist, she had a reputation for being a drunk and somewhat promiscuous -- a reputation Cat wasn't particularly ashamed of, it should be noted, except when Morgan used it in court to get full custody of their son.

Not a "bad seed" or anything, many readers still didn't particularly like Adam, who was written as...well, a bratty rich kid. After overhearing Superman lecture his father about sharing custody with Cat, Adam was scared of the Man of Steel. He also didn't care for Cat's on-again, off-again boyfriend Jose "Gangbuster" Delgado, a fan favorite.

Thanks in part to Superman's words, Morgan saw that Cat had changed since he knew her and they worked out more visitation for Adam. Following the death of Superman, Cat broke up with her then-boyfriend and whenever we saw her outside the office, she was with Adam.

Tragedy struck when, after being kidnapped along with a number of other children by a demented supervillain called the Toyman, Adam freed his fellow captives, only to get himself and the others murdered for his bravery.

Toyman, who had previously been nothing but kind to children (in spite of creating homicidal traps for adults who he believed had wronged him) had justified his kidnappings because the kids in question had parents who didn't pay them enough attention -- certainly something that seems like it could apply to Cat on TV, since she seems to have no real relationship with Adam.

WHITE MARTIANS

In the comics, the White Martians first appeared in Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's acclaimed first arc on JLA. In that story, they infiltrated Earth society using their shapeshifting powers and then waited until what they thought would be a perfect time to strike.

They've popped up a few more times in the comics -- and here, it's them instead of J'Onn's brother who are responsible for the death of Martian society. In the comics, while they were dangerous and warlike, most of the White Martins were sent to the Still Zone -- similar to but distinct from the Phantom Zone -- following a lengthy and brutal civil war between the white, green and yello Martians.

Arguably the most notable White Martian is actually former Teen Titan Miss Martian, who chose to take on the look of a Green Martian after deciding to become a hero on Earth.

J'ONN'S ORIGINS

The death of the Green Martians and J'Onn's separation from his family -- especially the death of his child -- is a recurring part of his character and something that he talks about frequently.

We don't see how he came to Earth just yet, but with these similarities to his comic book origins, it will be interesting to see whether they explore more of his Earthbound backstory this season.