Rupert Bear Rupert Bear Rupert Bear is a children's comic strip character created by the English artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the "Daily Express" newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert's initial purpose was to win sales from the rival "Daily Mail" and "Daily Mirror". In 1935, the mantle of Rupert artist and storyteller was taken over by Alfred Bestall, who was previously an illustrator for "Punch" and other glossy magazines. Bestall proved to be successful in the field of children's literature and worked on Rupert stories and artwork into his 90s. More recently, various other artists and writers have continued
Daily Express Newspapers was sold to publisher Richard Desmond in 2000, and the names of the newspapers reverted to "Daily Express" and "Sunday Express". In 2004, the newspaper moved to its present location on Lower Thames Street in the City of London. On 31 October 2005, UK Media Group Entertainment Rights secured majority interest from the "Daily Express" for Rupert Bear. They paid £6 million for a 66.6% control of the character. The "Express" retains minority interest of one-third plus the right to publish Rupert Bear stories in certain Express publications. In 2000, Express Newspapers was bought by Richard Desmond, publisher of