What’s in a Name? Comic Books and Hockey

This chapter explores the lawsuit filed by hockey player Tony Twist against Todd McFarlane. McFarlane was a hockey fan who created the comic book Spawn in 1992, a dark, surreal fantasy about a CIA assassin who dies, goes to hell, and returns to earth as an agent of the devil. In 1993, his evil henchman and enforcer, Anthony Twistelli (called Tony Twist) was introduced. The only thing the character and the hockey player had in common was the name and the reputation of being an enforcer, although MacFarlane admitted in notes to the readers at the end of one issue that he named his character after the hockey player. The real Tony Twist sued for appropriation of his image, and the initial jury awarded him almost $25 million dollars in damages. The trial court, though, threw out the verdict, concluding that Twist had not proven appropriation, because it was the use of his name and not his identity. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that Twist's name was part of his identity and that the predominant purpose of naming the character after the hockey player was commercial: the court believed McFarlane hoped to profit from Twist's name and not simply to create art.