Tension is one of the common forces that objects experience in life and in physics problems.  A check to see if the there is a tension force applied to the object is to ask if there are any ropes or strings connected to it.  As I thought about a character that would be a good connection to ropes or strings, Spiderman came to mind since he is often hanging from a spider web.   I liked this image since it had good focus on the webbing and it is one of the few that the image goes all the way to the top of the card.  When determining the direction of the Tension it is in the direction of the string and away from the object.  Strings are good at pulling, but not pushing.  In this image the tension on Spiderman would be up.  In a problem you would either need to be told the tension value so you could solve for something else like another force or acceleration.  You could also be given enough other known/desired values that you would need to solve for the Tension that would create that situation.