The Mighty Yeti: Issue 1 - Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

After the dark and brooding story of Devi, I decided to move on to something a bit lighter. Right off the bat, Graphic India’s The Mighty Yeti reminds me of the light hearted tone of the Spiderman comics. Traces of Spiderman even run lightly in the story line. Geeky teenager, loser in school, dead parents, discovers powers, becomes hero.

The first thing that struck me was the artwork. Saumin Patel brilliantly sets the light tone of the story using the line work and colour palette. The panel work, though simple, is neat and works well with the text bubbles and boxes. Let me explain, the first panel itself sets the context really well. Just from the one panel we deduce that our protagonist is a teenager, he’s going through puberty, he’s not very popular in school and is kinda geeky. Sure, the following panels go on to explain these things in detail, but the first panel gives us an idea of these things. There’s a hint of Bollywood in some elements of the storyline, which helps the story stick to its Indian roots.

Coming back to the story, Arjun Raj Gaind didn’t bore us with too much background before jumping right into action. Satya’s grandfather, or Dada, gives us a unique look at the Yeti/Bigfoot/Abominable Snow Man mythos; a futuristic race who inhabited Earth before the rise of man. It was them who sparked man’s evolution, but eventually went into hiding after man never ceased from his warmongering ways. Personally, I like this theory. It adds a coat mystery and mythology to an otherwise unexplored mythos and also gives a lot more depth to the story line.

Issue 1 sets us up for what looks like an interesting story, with two factions on the hunt for the Yeti. One of them look like a mysterious Shaolin-esque bunch, led by a guy who looks like Ra’s Al Ghul’s stunt double; and the other faction is led by none other than Satya’s not-so-dead mother… Plot twist!