Could Richie Rich have had better success with DC?

[Old School Scooby Fan]

I remember when Richie Rich comics used to be published from the early 1960s through 1982, and from the point of launch until the publisher, Harvey Comics, ceased operations in 1982, that is only 22 years for a comic book series from start to finish.  And in many 36-page issues, roughly half of the issue is new content, and the other half is recycled content from the 1960s or 1970s.

Harvey's initial run lasted only 22 years, and the company rebooted in 1986.  Harvey's second run was much shorter, lasting only 8 years - and new content was very limited, lasting until early 1991 at the earliest (though "Richie Rich and the New Kids on the Block" had new content in every one of the three issues, and after the third issue, Harvey produced no more new Richie material for the remainder of Harvey's second life.

After Harvey ultimately ceased publication in 1994, Marvel had taken over the ownership rights to Richie Rich and all of the Harvey characters - but Marvel didn't do anything with Richie Rich except publish a comic book adaptation of the 1994 movie (and the movie was a flop).

But here's an interesting scenario: If DC had taken over the ownership rights to the Harvey characters, and published all new stories, would a DC run have better success?  I mean, early "Scooby-Doo" comics had very short runs, and the DC run of "Scooby-Doo" has been quite successful and ran since the late 1990s and continues to this day (only the Archie Comics run was second longest, if I recall).

What are your thoughts on this?

[Doo]

I would say yes, it probably would have to an extent. However, Richie Rich is quite as popular of a franchise, so it might not have had quite the same extent longevity that Scooby has (although it would still likely be more than it did under Marvel).

[Old School Scooby Fan]

I personally think DC does a spectacular job at handling reboots of characters previously published by other companies. DC's run of Scooby-Doo has lasted a quarter of a century now. I bet, if DC had an interest in acquiring and publishing new Richie Rich stories, there probably would also be a team-up series with at least one issue involving Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang. and maybe other characters previously associated with Harvey, such as Little Dot, Casper, Hot Stuff, etc.

Marvel acquired the Harvey properties in 1994 or early 1995, but didn't release any full Richie Rich series. This could imply that Marvel only wanted to take over the ownership rights of the Harvey properties just for the sake of copyright.  And speaking of Marvel, they did publish a Scooby-Doo series in the 1970s, but was short-lived.

I remember back in the early 2010s, Ape Entertainment did license Richie Rich for a new series of comics - but was very much short-lived (I believe the Richie Rich series along with Richie Rich Gems, each lasted only six issues under the Ape branding, though the Gems series' numbering continued from where Harvey left off in 1982, but going as high as #48).  I think it's time for DC to consider acquiring Richie Rich, as a DC run would have better potential.