The Three Bears

The Three Bears was a long running strip from The Beano which first appeared in issue #881 (6th June 1959) and was originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, though Bob McGrath was its longest running artist (later replaced by Tom Lavery, Bob Dewar, David Parkins, Robert Nixon, Chris McGhie and Mike Pearse). It concerned the adventures of three lazy, larcenous anthromorphic bears, Pa, Ma and Teddy (or Ted), and their ongoing rivalry with Hank the storekeeper. The strip was dropped from issue #2253 (21st September 1985) but returned several times between 1988 and 1995, then for a lengthy run between 1999 and 2007, sometimes as a reprint. They resurfaced again in July 2010, in issue #3541, in reprints of the Mike Pearse strips which continued until issue #3566 (1st January 2011). They have also appeared on a regular basis in the Beano Annual, BeanoMAX and the Beano Comic Library, as well as in Summer Specials.