Tawky Tawny

Character History

History & Public Domain Status

Tawky Tawny debuted in 1947 in Captain Marvel Adventures #79. Originally Twaky was an intelligent, talking tiger from India who moved to the U.S. and befriended Captain Marvel.

Under the Copyright Act of 1909, which was in effect at the time, works were granted an initial copyright term of 28 years. To secure the full protection, the copyright had to be renewed during the last (28th) year of that first term, 1975. No such renewal was filed for his early appearances as far as we have been able to determine. This places him in the public domain.

Current Incarnation (PDSH)

In the PDSH incarnation, we meet Toni, proprieter of Toni's Talkies, a DVD rental store in Fawcett Bluff. She is in a relationship with Billy and Mary Batson's Uncle Dudley. Toni exibits some suspicously feline traits, such as wideset almond shaped eyes, a nimble, elegant gait and a subtly striped hair-do.