If there is any superhero who qualifies as a nerd icon, it is Spider-Man and his alter ego, Peter Parker. His powers depend one half on scientific experimentation, one half on his own research and innovation. But unlike other comic-book inventors like Batman or Iron Man, he has no personal wealth or corporate connections to draw on. Unlike hero teams like the X-Men or Avengers, he has no support network of colleagues. He is an intellectual and emotional outlier, a character who could have been lifted straight from the psychological profile of The Drama of the Gifted Child.