The name ‘Sheetan’ holds a special place among the memorable stories of Raj Comics. It is not just a meeting of great heroes, but a story connecting science, Ice Age creatures, the environment and human thinking, which keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.
Its appeal lies in three different main characters. Super Commando Dhruv faces difficulties with his courage, understanding and scientific thinking, without any supernatural powers. Vanaputra’s strength depends on the lush green earth, trees and plants. Dr. Varghese, also known as Ice Human, is a character transformed by society’s indifference and a scientific accident. When they encounter the dormant Ice Age race known as the ‘Sheetans’, the whole of human civilization is in danger.
Beginning of the story: Return of Ice Age creatures to Rajnagar
The story begins on a quiet night in Rajnagar. Vanaputra is chasing some armed goons who have stolen a special ‘super-cooling cylinder’ from a chemical factory. As Vanaputra surrounds them with the help of trees and plants, the city suddenly starts experiencing heavy snowfall. Due to the severe cold, the cells of trees and plants become sluggish, and Vanaputra starts becoming helpless. Then Dhruv arrives, saves him and catches the criminals. During interrogation, it is revealed that the theft is part of a larger conspiracy. A ‘saber-toothed tiger’ in the metropolis and a huge Ice Age ‘mammoth’ in Rajnagar have been awakened.
The mammoth wreaks havoc in the industrial area of Rajnagar. Even the police and surveillance helicopters are unable to stop it. It is moving towards the cooling cylinders. Dhruv understands that the mammoth is a warm-blooded mammal and that its thick hair protects it from the cold. He gets birds and stray dogs to pull out its hair. As soon as this protective layer is removed, the mammoth cannot bear the artificial cold and collapses, freezing. Meanwhile, ‘Snowrobo’, the ice-and-metal robot sent by the Sheetans, appears. Doctor Varghese helps destroy it, making it seem that he is on humanity’s side.
Attack of the Sheetans: Mahavriksha and the petrol fire
The Keshav Nagar petrol pump is attacked by ‘Iceball’ and ‘Snowgirl’. Snowgirl uses her power to transform the clouds into huge balls of ice, intending to bring them crashing down and destroy Rajnagar. Vanaputra risks his life and sits in deep meditation in the freezing cold. By using all his life energy, he grows a huge ‘Mahavriksha’, or ‘great tree’, from the ground. Its branches block the falling masses of ice in midair.
Dhruv adopts a scientific trick to stop Snowgirl. He knows that petrol does not freeze even at very low temperatures. He pours petrol on Snowgirl and sets it on fire. The heat causes her icy joints to melt, and she runs away. Iceball leaves with the cylinder. Dhruv, Vanaputra and Varghese then search for the source of the conspiracy.
Vajrakaya in Antarctica: Scientific thinking outweighs power
An examination of Snowrobo’s ice reveals that it comes from Antarctica. The three leave for Doctor Varghese’s secret laboratory. To protect himself from the cold, Dhruv uses a small body-temperature regulator made by his scientist sister, Shweta. Vanaputra maintains his body temperature with warming medicinal herbs.
There, the Sheetans’ powerful warrior, ‘Vajrakaya’, blocks their way. His body is made of ice harder than diamond and stone. Vanaputra’s blows and Dhruv’s weapons prove ineffective. Dhruv then turns the principle of water expanding as it freezes into a weapon.
Vanaputra makes a small hole in Vajrakaya’s chest with his sharp roots. Ice Human uses syringes to fill it with seawater. In the severe cold, the water expands considerably as it freezes, and Vajrakaya’s body breaks apart due to the pressure inside. This scene is a memorable example of the use of scientific thinking in the story.
Big revelation: Varghese’s revenge and Sheetraj’s betrayal
After Vajrakaya’s defeat, ‘Sheetraj’, king of the Sheetans, appears. It is then revealed that Dr. Varghese is behind the entire crisis. He explains that society and his family had rejected him after his body turned into ice in the accident.
Humiliation and loneliness filled his mind with hatred. In Antarctica, he found the Sheetan race buried under the ice. With his scientific knowledge, he brought Sheetraj back to life. To take revenge on humans, he wanted to restore the Sheetans’ lost powers using the cooling cylinders.
As soon as his power is restored, Sheetraj betrays Varghese. According to him, Varghese’s body is made of ice, but he is fundamentally human, and the Sheetans cannot be friends with any human being. He locks the three in an extremely cold room, where their bodies can freeze within minutes.
Final battle: Victory with penguins and bacteria
All three begin struggling to breathe in the cold room. Vanaputra extends his consciousness beneath the ice to the sea. By activating the seaweed, he causes the room’s floor to break open. The three swim through the water to reach Varghese’s laboratory.
Varghese regrets his mistake. He prepares special bacteria that weaken the Sheetans. Then Sheetraj attacks with his army. During the fight, the beaker containing the solution breaks, and the liquid spreads across the ice.
Dhruv calls hundreds of penguins with his special whistle. They dip their beaks into the solution and attack the Sheetans. Their beaks deliver bacteria into the Sheetans’ bodies like syringes. Sheetraj and his army fall ill and become weak.
The defeated Sheetraj hides deep within the glaciers with his remaining army. Varghese surrenders to the authorities. Through the courage of Dhruv and Vanaputra, the Earth is saved from the devastation of the Ice Age.
The characters’ thinking and strategies
The strength of the story lies in the balance between its characters and their internal struggles. Dhruv finds a way out of every difficulty through logic and scientific thinking. Understanding the protective role of the mammoth’s hair, breaking Vajrakaya’s body with freezing water, and delivering bacteria through penguins’ beaks demonstrate his wisdom.
Vanaputra’s struggle is also special. The hero, who draws strength from greenery and soil, fights in a place where there is snow all around. Yet, by growing great trees and awakening seaweed, he shows the strength of nature and his firm determination.
Varghese’s story brings out a tragedy reminiscent of ‘Frankenstein’. Society’s indifference makes him a villain. In the end, his remorse shows that knowledge can do good only when it is free from ego and revenge.
The effect of the artwork and colors
Anupam Sinha’s artwork makes the story grand and exciting. The mammoth’s massive body, the ground trembling beneath its feet, and the electric poles flying through the air give it a cinematic feel.
The glass-like, transparent, pointed bodies of the Sheetans contrast clearly with Vanaputra’s woody skin and the texture of the leaves. Vinod Kumar’s inking makes the lines clear. Sunil Pandey’s colors bring the buildings of Rajnagar and the blue-white glaciers of Antarctica to life.
The message of science and the environment
A special quality of ‘Sheetan’ is its use of scientific principles and natural laws in the story. The mammoth’s nature as a mammal, the considerable expansion of freezing water, the burning of petrol and the effect of bacteria make the story thought-provoking.
The comic also warns that human manipulation of Earth’s temperature and natural balance could bring back the devastation of the past.
Final evaluation
‘Sheetan’ still makes an impact today with its tightly constructed story, freshness and thought-provoking ending. This is a great example of storytelling through pictures combined with entertainment, which comic lovers and serious readers must read.
Original publication: Raj Comics Special Issue
Story: Jolly Sinha
Artwork: Anupam Sinha
Inking: Vinod Kumar
Lettering and colors: Sunil Pandey
Editor: Manish Gupta
Presentation: Sanjay Gupta
Main characters: Super Commando Dhruv, Vanaputra, Doctor Varghese (Ice Human)
