ST. LOUIS — Tony Twist, a former National Hockey League enforcer known more for his fighting than his skating, has been awarded $15 million by a jury that found a comic-strip creator had profited by using Twist's name without his permission.

Comic-book artist Todd McFarlane is the former principal artist and writer of Spiderman comics. He gave the name Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli to a violent New York mob boss character in McFarlane's "Spawn" comics in the early 1990s.

McFarlane had claimed his use of the name was protected under the First Amendment. Twist disagreed, saying McFarlane had gone outside the bounds of free speech.

Twist was awarded more than $24.5 million by a St. Louis Circuit Court jury in 2000, but the judge overruled that decision.

The Missouri Court of Appeals' Eastern District ruled in McFarlane's favor two years ago, citing First Amendment protections, but the Missouri Supreme Court in July 2003 ordered a new trial. The court called McFarlane's use of Twist's name "predominantly a ploy to sell comic books and related products rather than an artistic or literary expression."

McFarlane appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2003, arguing that "Spawn" characters "are purely fictional fantasies, and no reasonable person could confuse the plaintiff with the fictional fantasies and characters portrayed therein."

In January, the high court turned away the appeal in McFarlane v. Twist without comment.

"They made Tony into a Mafia boss," said James Holloran, an attorney for Twist, a former St. Louis Blues player. "He was involved in murders and kidnappings and rapes."

The First Amendment doesn't allow an artist to use someone's name for commercial advantage, Holloran said. McFarlane's attorney disagreed.

"The use at issue in this case is no different from Simon and Garfunkel's use of the name Joe DiMaggio in the song 'Mrs. Robinson,'" said Michael Kahn, one of McFarlane's attorneys.

"He thought it was a cool name for a mobster," Kahn added.

The St. Louis Circuit Court jury on July 9 found that McFarlane and his comic-book company, Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., had infringed on Twist's publicity rights and ordered them to pay $15 million.

Kahn vowed to appeal the verdict.

"This is just Round 4 in this First Amendment battle," he said. "We will appeal this all the way."