My Ulster-Scots extracted Grandad thought he was a criminal but I am a bit of a fan. Stood up to a corrupt and predjudiced police force.
I don't even know if he was newsworthy outside of Australia.
All 3 for hero/villain but in the US I am wondering about cowboy comparisons...
It isn't conclusive evidence of anything, but the NYT archives returns exactly one hit for "Ned Kelly" between 1879 and 1885. The title of that article is
"WHAT SMALL BOYS READ; CHOICE TALES OF INDIANS AND PIRATES."
Searches against "Edward Kelly" are more difficult, as it was a popular name, but again, I didn't see anything that looked likely.
I think is is safe to say that America wasn't exactly enthralled with the tale.