Mike Pearse - Space Cadets

I may not be much of a fan of the series or the movies myself, but as it's the 50th anniversary of Star Trek this year, I couldn't let it pass by without celebrating it as only I know how...!

This special 2009 Bash Street Annual featured some of Mike Pearse's best "extra-long" Bash Street Kids stories originally printed in The Beano - and one new story drawn especially for this book alone, a hilarious tribute to one of the best sci-fi shows in the world.

It would also be the last time Mike Pearse contributed for DC Thompson. He didn't draw further comics, Bash Street or otherwise, until the 2015 Beano annual. But that's another story...

Mike Pearse - Pop Idiots

As this year's X Factor draws to a close, I think it only fitting to mark the occasion with a rather aptly-named Mike Pearse classic - back when Simon Cowell first introduced its "predecessor", Pop Idol, from the early 00's. Love it or hate it, it must have inspired Mike either way to draw what I consider to be one of my personal favourites of his.

In fact, I adore massive character team-ups within the same "world", but Mike's handling for the Beano characters has always been superb. Just imagine an animated series featuring the entire residents of Beanotown than just Dennis the Menace alone...!

This story was first published in Beano Issue No.3250 from October 2004 - a year after Pop Idol was "relaunched" as the X Factor...