Lesley Presley Pretend is a fictional character in a comic strip (Les Pretend) in the UK comic ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...

'' with the byline "the Little kid with the big imagination". Originally drawn by John Sherwood, he first appeared in issue 2493, dated 28 April 1990. In each issue, Les pretends to be something and dresses up like it, beginning with a

martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pr ...

in his debut. His dad is called Des (and is thus one of the few Beano parents to be given a name rather than 'mum' or 'dad'), an

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

fan and impersonator, hence Les' middle name of Presley. Recurring features of the strip are the feasibility of Les' (often improvised) costumes, and the readiness with which Des accepts things like the appearance of a giant creature, and attempts to deal with it in a rational and unfazed way. Sherwood continued to draw the strip until his death in late 2003. The strip then disappeared from ''

'' for a short while, as it was originally planned to retire the character. Eventually, though, it returned to the comic drawn by Trevor Metcalfe, who drew it for about a year between 2004 and 2005, though Steve Bright also drew a few episodes in early 2004. The strip again disappeared before returning a couple of years later, this time drawn by Laura Howell. This was a one off, and showed Les beating a real

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

in a Dalek fancy dress competition, and appeared in Beano issue 3402 dated 13 October 200

A Johnny Bean from Happy Bunny Green strip by the same artist followed this up with everyone dressed as vegetables in another fancy dress competition. Les wasn't seen again for nearly a year after that strip until the comic started to run reprints of John Sherwood strips from the 1990s. Laura Howell also drew Les's strip for the 2010 and 2011 Beano Annuals. Sometime shortly before Mike Stirling became editor, Les Pretend was dropped. Les Pretend returned to The Beano in the Funsize Funnies in #3660 drawn by Laura Howell once again. Les also appeared back into the Beano 2016 annual twice, drawn by Laura Howell. he dresses up as his mum and orders pizza, then Des starts to prefer Les for a mum than the actual mum so Les' mum dresses up as Les. Les also dresses up as a cat, which his Dad uses on his Elvis Presley website to attract more people.

References

External links

* on ''The Beano'' official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pretend, Les Beano strips Comics characters introduced in 1990