Thursday 13 October 2011

Mike Pearse and The 3 Bears

Looking back at my Dandy Comic blog post a year ago, it prompted me today to go through my old Beano / Dandy collections from the '90s to mid 2000's for old time's sake. And I'll be perfectly honest when I say this:

The Beano has never been the same without Mike Pearse.

Out of all the artists who have contributed to the Beano over the years, Mike's work has remained as one of my biggest inspirations and favourites. His style was very different to what other artists / writers were offering at the time; in fact, it is very much in spirit of all the classic French Comics (such as Asterix, Marsupilami, Gaston) in terms of artwork and humour - which felt more real and chuckle-worthy, IMO.

Mike started out way, way back in 1999, with Beano Issue No.2974, by bringing The Three Bears back into the Beano. Along the way, during his five-year legacy, he also penned the Bash Street Kids, from super-long stories lasting entire comics, to 1-page "Singled Out" adventures, focusing on individual characters within Bash St. School. All of which I have kept near and dear since.

But after digging out my old Beanos and reading through Mike's 3 Bears storylines, my memories of each strip have remained as sharp as ever - and my sides are still splitting after all this time.

Five years just wasn't long enough for Mike - so wherever he is and whatever he's doing today.....good health mate, and thanks for all the laughs =)

And now, a selection of some faves:

Mike Pearse's first venture into the Beano. I'm glad that after the first few strips, Mike decided to draw and write his own speech bubbles, going by the mistake in the third panel...


While Ma, Pa and Ted still ambushed Hank's Store, Mike also had fun playing the characters off one another, as well as introducing a few new faces - namely, a pal for Ted...





And to finish off, this two-parter comic that truly left me in knots - even with two Bears, it's still funny as Hell!!



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