Earlier this week a State appeals court in Missouri
upheld Tony Twist's $15 million jury verdict against SPAWN creator Todd McFarlane for naming a comic-book villain "Tony Twist." Here's the Comics Reporter's
summary of the case so far.
The longer this goes on, the more Tony Twist seems like a self-important, opportunistic jackass. Are we supposed to believe, as Twist purports to, that this relatively obscure toon cost him fifteen fucking
million dollars in hot tub ads for local TV? Consider this report, claiming
Twist's NHL salary maxed out at $725,000 (1998/99). Even if you accept the transparently ludicrous argument that McFarlane hampered the Twister's endorsement potential (and come on, seriously), this award is grotesquely out of proportion.
And anyway, all of that is beside the point as we see it: this is a First Amendment issue, and not a very tough one. After this trial ends —
if it ever ends — Twist had better start signing his autographs with a little ® after his name like Gordie Howe.
Wait, does anyone even ask Tony Twist for autographs? Oh, yeah, no, they don't, because of SPAWN. If not for that comic book, though, he'd be selling signed eight-by-tens for 20 bucks each. By the
hundreds of thousands. Right?