PALAKKAD: Long before television serials, superhero films and streaming thrillers became part of everyday life, generations of Malayali children discovered adventure in the pages of periodic magazines. Hidden islands, terrifying reptiles, magical weapons, mysterious laboratories and fearless detectives opened up entire new worlds for young readers — worlds imagined by one man with an extraordinary gift for storytelling: Kannadi Viswanathan.
For countless readers who grew up during the 1970s and 80s, characters such as CID Moosa, CID Mahesh, Revolver Ringo and Irumbukai Maayavi were more than comic-book heroes.
They were companions of childhood, filling afternoons with suspense, wonder and excitement. At a time when visual storytelling was still uncommon in Kerala homes, Viswanathan blended fantasy, science fiction and detective fiction into illustrated tales that shaped the imagination of an entire generation. The legendary storyteller passed away at the age of 93 on Friday.
Born as Viswanathan Nair in 1932 at Kannadi in Palakkad, he belonged to the Payikkattu family of Elappully. His journey into storytelling was far from conventional. Forced to discontinue his studies after Class 10, he travelled to Chennai at a young age and worked as a tailor. Years later, after returning to Kerala, he opened a tailoring shop at Kunnathurmedu — a modest beginning that would unexpectedly lead him into the world of illustrated fiction.
The turning point came when A Achuthan, owner of Achuthan Book House, asked whether Tamil comic stories could be translated into Malayalam. The opportunity opened up a new creative universe for Viswanathan. He began with translated works such as ‘Irumbukai Maayavi’, ‘Sarppadweepu’ and ‘Manjukatta Rahasyam’ from Tamil, before gradually creating his own characters and fictional worlds. Among them, ‘CID Moosa’ emerged as a cultural phenomenon.
The detective became so beloved that when the character was temporarily removed from a storyline, angry readers reportedly sent letters demanding his return.
Many of Viswanathan’s ideas appeared strikingly ahead of their time. Long before Hollywood introduced audiences to dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, Malayalam readers had already encountered terrifying prehistoric reptiles in his stories such as ‘Rakshasappallikal’. His stories were filled with futuristic machines, shape-shifting buildings, secret islands and mysterious scientific experiments.
Within a decade, he published nearly 125 illustrated stories, many of which sold in tens of thousands of copies. Some books, including ‘Persian Manthravaadi’, became so popular that they had to be reprinted to meet demand. The success of his works marked a golden era not only for Malayalam comics but also for the state’s publishing industry.
“He coined so many simple dialogues and those were part our daily life. For example: “Vediyunadayalle Varunnath, Maarikkalayaam” (It’s a bullet coming, let’s just move aside!), “Tamaar Padaar” (the sound of flying punches in fights), “Ayyo Njan Chathe” (Oh, I’m dead). His stories and dialogues were world-class and matched the James Bond movies. Interestingly, Viswanathan rarely had any connection with the English novels and films. But his imagination was beyond boundaries and expectations of the readers,” said Adv Narayan Radhakrishnan, a Thiruvananthapuram native, who did research about the books of Viswanathan taking over 10 years.
In 10 years, Viswanathan and his publisher Achuthan published over 125 books. Yet when the popularity of comic literature began to fade, Viswanathan quietly returned to tailoring without bitterness or complaint. His final comic work, ‘Shoonyakaashathile Kshudrajeevikal’, was published in 1983. “Viswanathan had created a new chapter in Malayalam storytelling and that his contributions were recognised fully only much later,” said CICC Jayachandran, a book publisher and retailer.
“Had he lived outside Kerala, perhaps even outside Palakkad, the world might have celebrated him differently,” noted writer T R Ajayan observed.