One of Quality's final titles was Robin Hood Tales, which lasted 6 issues, and was continued by DC for another 8. Before and after taking the title over DC also ran Robin Hood stories in The Brave and the Bold, for a run of 10 issues (as part of a mixed line-up, but sometimes cover-featured). Charlton also published a Robin Hood title in the period that lasted 11 issues, and Magazine Enterprises one that lasted 8.(1) Nor are these all the Robin Hood comics published in the period.
Presumably these titles sought to benefit from the popularity of the 50s TV show starring Richard Greene. None of them was really long-lasting, so in the newsstand market days using a popular public domain character wasn't a guarantee of success.(2) But there are examples of features and titles starring public domain characters, or versions of historical people, that had long runs. The ones that spring to my mind are Prize's "Frankenstein",(3) Marvel's "Thor", Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, and Charlton's Billy the Kid. Can anyone think of any others?
Incidentally, in the 40s Canada's Anglo-American Publishing, which had a relationship with Fawcett, published a title called Robin Hood Comics, which was later merged with another title to become Freelance Robin Hood and Company Comics and then Robin Hood and Company Comics. Compare the covers of Robin Hood Comics v.2 #3 and Fawcett's Captain Midnight #1.
(1) Due to a title change the GCD lists the first 5 and the last 3 issues separately.
(2) I might've used Davy Crockett or Annie Oakley as my example of a public domain figure that a number of publishers tried with limited success rather than Robin Hood.
(3) Prize's Frankenstein ran for 33 issues, but it's really two titles, a comedic one (the first 17 issues) and a horror one (the last 16), with a publishing hiatus in between. But the feature also ran in 60 issues of Prize Comics, and the horror version of Frankenstein may have been killed off by the coming of the Comics Code rather than sales.
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The one that comes to mind who relatively recently entered public domain is Sherlock Holmes, who (like Dracula before him) suddenly was everywhere in comics, movies and television. Frankenstein is 197 years old this year. Universal Studios only has rights to their specific looks of the Frankenstein Monster and Dracula, not the characters.
There is an interesting duality here. Some of the characters you mention (Davy Crockett, Annie Oakley, Billy the Kid) were actual people and some are fictional characters. The real people can be used at will unless there are meaningful objections from living relatives and the fictional depend upon copyright laws. Actually, the fictional diverge into author-created characters and legendary characters who may or may not have real-life counterparts (King Arthur, Robin Hood).
Thanks, Richard. Arguably, I could count Werewolf by Night; Jack Russell was original to Marvel, but his werewolf form resembled Universal's Wolf Man's. Marvel's Frankenstein only ran 18 issues, but the GCD tells me the monster also appeared in 8 issues of Monsters Unleashed.
Although Holmes was not in the public domain back then, the situation is similar, in that the character was well-known and liked but not particularly successful in comics. Likewise Charlie Chan, although several companies tried him (including DC).
The GCD lists several longer-running non-US Buffalo Bill titles. I have three of the T. V. Boardman Buffalo Bill Wild West Annuals. I don't think mine have any text or comics stories about Buffalo Bill - instead they're generally West-themed - but Comic Book Plus has one that does. Some of the art in these annuals was terrific.
Comparing US and non-US runs can be misleading, as (1) anthology weeklies were more common outside the US, and they rack up quicker issue-counts (2) a title might switch between running US reprint material and new stories in the course of its run (3) an anthology title might not feature stories about its title character, or might do so for only part of its run. As with American comics, later issues of a title sometimes reprinted earlier issues. A European title might also be its country's version of a title from another European country.
For example, the GCD lists Robin Hood Tales from Britain's L. Miller & Son as having run for 34 issues in 1957-1959. Its page on the issue says it ran "Reprints from US National Periodicals and Charlton Comics. Some original British material also included."
Charlton's Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal ran for 61 issues, and Charlton also ran Earp stories in, I think, 35 issues of Six Gun Heroes (and sometimes elsewhere). Other historical figures, such as Annie Oakley, also appeared in Six Gun Heroes as heroes. Marvel's Wyatt Earp series lasted 29 issues, and the GCD also lists Earp stories as having appeared in 18 issues of Gunsmoke Western.