The Three Bears (comic strip)

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The Three Bears
Characters from The Beano
The Three Bears from The Beano.jpg
Publication information
Stars ofThe Three Bears
Author(s)Uncredited
Illustrator(s)
First appearance
  • Issue 881
  • (6 June 1959)
Last appearanceIssue 3566
(1 January 2011)
Current statusDiscontinued
Group timelineIssues 881 – 884, 852 – 2253, 2391 – 2786, 3365 – ??, 3541 – 3566
Characters
Type of groupFamily
Members of groupMa Bear, Pa Bear, Teddy/Ted
Other charactersHank
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

The Three Bears was a long-running British comic strip which appeared in the British comics magazine The Beano . [12] It first featured in 1959's issue 881 and ran sporadically until 2011 through reprints and several artists.

Contents

Synopsis

Ma and Pa Bear and their young son Teddy (later called Ted) were three anthropomorphic bears who lived in a setting loosely based on the American Wild West. They were lazy and gluttonous, and lived in a cave upon a hill. Most storylines revolved around their attempts to steal "grub" from the local storekeeper Hank (who often shoots at the Three Bears with his blunderbuss for trying to rob him). There was the occasional appearance by the local sheriff, and their rival bear Grizzly Gus (who had a son called Gus's Grizzly). [12]

Publication history

It made its first appearance in issue 881, [13] drawn by Leo Baxendale at first and then by Bob McGrath for most of its run. [12]

Originally disappearing from the comic after issue 2253, [14] by which time McGrath had departed and briefly been replaced by Tom Lavery, the strip has returned to The Beano several times since then, between 1988 and 1995, re-appearing from issues 2391 and 2674. [15] [16] The first re-launch was drawn by Bob Dewar, and the second originally by David Parkins, who drew it for much of the mid-1990s, then Robert Nixon later on. Parkins' version is cited by former Beano editor Euan Kerr as one of his favourite strips.

1999–2007 strips

The strip appeared again in 2000, when, after being a 'Guest Star' since the previous year, it was voted into the comic by Beano readers, beating Tricky Dicky, Inspector Horse and Jocky and Gordon Bennett. This time it was drawn by Mike Pearse, but in 2002 Chris McGhie replaced him to relieve Pearse's workload, although the strip was drawn in a largely similar style.

After a vote in 2006, the Three Bears re-appeared as reprints of the 1990s David Parkins strips. He had also drawn Fred's Bed, Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, and Billy Whizz, all of which have been reprinted in some form. In the 2007 Christmas special (reprinted from the 2000 Christmas Beano), The Three Bears had a present delivered by Billy Whizz, before they return to Beanotown at the end of the strip.

They appeared in the Beano Annual 2007 again drawn by Parkins, and in the Beano Annual 2008 in which Ted shaves off animals' hair including Pa's. This was drawn by Ken Harrison. They made another appearance in The Beano's 2008 Summer Special, again drawn by Chris McGhie. In the 2009 annual they were drawn by Hunt Emerson, appearing alongside another Western-themed Beano star, Little Plum.

Their final new story in the weekly comic came in issue 3365 of The Beano, drawn by Tom Paterson. [17] This was a new strip, not a reprint. The characters later reappeared three years later in issue 3541. [18]

Recent appearances

In annuals, they have been drawn by Mike Pearse (2001, 2002, 2003), Chris McGhie (2004), Ken Harrison (2005, 2006, 2008), David Parkins (2007), Hunt Emerson (2009) and David Sutherland (2012).

The Three Bears are often seen in the BeanoMAX and Beano annuals, although they hardly ever make appearances in the comic itself. They continued weekly in the comic, as reprints of the Mike Pearse strips until early 2011 when the strip stopped appearing. [19] In the 2012 Beano Annual, their strip was drawn by David Sutherland.

The Three Bears are featured in the 2015 Beano Annual. [11]

Parodies of the strip

The strip was the subject of two parodies by the adult comic Viz .

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References

  1. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (2000). The Three Bears. Illustrated by Mike Pearse. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (2001). The Three Bears. Illustrated by Mike Pearse. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (2002). The Three Bears. Illustrated by Mike Pearse. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (2003). The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ↑ Digby, Alan, ed. (2004). The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. ISBN   9780851168487.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2005.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ↑ Digby, Alan, ed. (6 September 2006). The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. ISBN   978-1845351526.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ Digby, Alan, ed. (2007). The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ Digby, Alan, ed. (2008). The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. ISBN   978-1845353490.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2011. ISBN   978-1845354534.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. 1 2 The Three Bears. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2014.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. 1 2 3 "Leo Baxendale - Lambiek Comiclopedia".
  13. ↑ "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 881. Illustrated by Leo Baxendale. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 6 June 1959.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (21 September 1985). "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 2253. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
  15. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (14 May 1988). "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 2391. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
  16. ↑ Kerr, Euan, ed. (16 October 1993). "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 2674. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
  17. ↑ Digby, Alan, ed. (27 January 2007). "The Three Bears". The Beano. D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
  18. ↑ "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 3541. D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 3 July 2010.
  19. ↑ "The Three Bears". The Beano. No. 3566. Illustrated by Mike Pearse. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 1 January 2011.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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