User blog comment:M(G)P/How "Arrow" copied from Spider-Man/@comment-24308873-20131214202534/@comment-23748647-20131219024921

The first time this trope was used is Lex Luthor. Though the Merlyn storyline has been around since the DC Silver Age in the 50s. So DC does trump here. Though this is not just a common comic trope, it also appears countless times in literature. You can even find it in Hamlet with Laertes and Polonius.