# The convention of hyphen between superheroes' name (Spider-man vs. Ironman)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 20, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679 "2010-01-20T07:58:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679/21 "2010-01-21T06:54:38Z")

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> [@magnusblitz](#):
>
> As far as I can think of, Spider-Man is the only well-known superhero who still has a hyphen in his name.
> 
> One word: Superman, Batman, …  
> Parsed as two words: Iron Man, Power Man, Wonder Man …
> 
> I’m sure there are counter-examples, but I’m interested to note that the above is split on Marvel/DC lines.

Chris Ware has a character called Super-Man, who is superficially similar to DC’s Superman, but is unrelentingly more of a dick. See: Fantagraphics’ **Acme Comics and Stories**

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679/22 "2010-01-21T20:26:56Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> To tell the truth, the only hyphen that I think most people notice in American comics is the one found in the various X-series, ex. X-Men, X-Factor, etc. Almost everyone I know would either write the names as two separate words **or one word without a hyphen**.

(bolding mine)  
Are you saying you would write “Xmen”, or “Xfactor”? Those just look bizarre to me.

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679/23 "2010-01-21T22:09:43Z")

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Ka-Zar  
Nite-Owl  
Dr. Mid-Nite

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-convention-of-hyphen-between-superheroes-name-spider-man-vs-ironman/525679/24 "2010-01-24T02:28:50Z")

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> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> Also to differentiate it from Nietzsche’s concept of the Spïdermensch.

Shouldn’t that be Spinnemensch?

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