Shaktiputra was one of the famous characters in Indian comics series, published and distributed by Radha Comics, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Shaktiputra was a monthly comics series and was published only in Hindi language. It was the most successful series published by Radha Comics. The character and concept of Shaktiputra was inspired from the popular Hollywood movie Robo-Cop. The appearance of Shaktiputra was much similar to the look of the western character. Moreover the abilities of Shaktiputra were almost as same as Robo-Cop.
Concept of Shaktiputra
Shaktiputra was a crime fighter who was part human and part machine. Prof. Padhmanabhan had invented a technically advanced humanoid machine. After a certain accident that left him fatally wounded, his brain was transplanted and wired into the state of the art machine. Thus Prof. Padhmanabhan was transformed into a crime fighting machine. The entire body of Shaktiputra was constructed from indispensable metal and only his face was human, which reminded of his prior existence as Prof. Padhmanabhan. His head was also covered with is helmet in order to protect his human brain. Shaktiputra battled against the criminals and other forces of evil in order to save the innocent civilians and to protect the city. He had various advanced weapons, but Shaktiputra mainly used his sword and shield. He used a revolver as well.
The stories of Shaktiputra were well written and depicted with detailed illustrations. The plotline was thrilling and exciting which appealed to the followers of Shaktiputra. Most of the stories were about his fight with various criminal elements, while some of the stories centered around wars between different alien forces and outer space civilistations. The comics character was much popular amongst Hindi comics readers but gradually the popularity faded due to growing preference of western comics at that time. Thus, the publication of Shaktiputra was finally ended by Radha Comics.
Publications of Shaktiputra
Radha Comics published many issues of Shaktiputra in Hindi language. The first issue of Shaktiputra was titled Yantra Daanav ka Aatank. Some of the other popular titles are Aakash Ganga Ka Baghi Shaktiputra, Madam Black Stone, Shakhti Putra Aur Zahrila Sangeet and Adrashya Maanav.