Well known cartoonist VT Thomas, the creator of ‘Boban and Molly‘, has passed away at the age of 86. VT Thomas, better known as Toms for the Malayali population. ‘Bobanum Moliyum’ cartoon series was first published in Malayala Manorama weekly in the late 1950s, following which he worked with Manorama for nearly three decades, before retiring in 1987.

Boban and Moly, the naughty next-door siblings from his neighborhood in Kuttanad and their dog became Toms’ central characters, and went on to entertain thousands of readers. Thought provoking and humorous, the cartoon series became a household name in Kerala, which was later made into an animation series.

• Toms began his career as cartoonist with Malayala Manorama in 1961 and continued till his retirement in 1987.
• The comic strip used to appear in the last page of the Malayala Manorama weekly.
• After his retirement in 1987, there was a legal dispute with the newspaper over copyright over the cartoon characters.
• Though Manorama finally won the case in the Supreme Court, they returned the copyright to Toms and the cartoons started appearing in a comic magazine run by him.
• The cartoon characters were so famous that Toms later launched a magazine titled ‘Boban and Molliyum’.
• The themes of the comic strip, which varied from childish adventures and pranks to contemporary social and political satire tells the story of Boban and Molly, hailing from a middle class Christian family in Central Travancore.