Superhero spotted a dude in need of picking up (6-3)

I believe the answer is:

spider-man

'superhero' is the definition.
(comic book superhero)

'spotted a dude in need of picking up' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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