Watchmen is a superhero comic book series based in the United States and the United Kingdom. Written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons, and colored by John Higgins, the British creative team DC Comics released it in 1986 and 1987. In 1987, it was compiled into an one volume edition. ¹⁾

Watchmen grew out of a plot concept Moore made to DC employing superhero characters obtained from Charlton Comics. ²⁾

Moore's proposed story would have rendered many of the characters unusable in subsequent stories. Instead, Moore was persuaded to develop fresh characters by managing editor Dick Giordano. ³⁾

Moore utilized the novel to reflect on modern fears as well as to deconstruct and parody the superhero notion. ⁴⁾

Watchmen presents a different timeline in which superheroes first appeared in the 1940s and 1960s. Because of their presence, the United States won the Vietnam War and the Watergate break-in was never revealed. ⁵⁾

In 1985, the country is on the verge of World War III with the Soviet Union, freelancing costumed vigilantes have been outlawed, and the majority of previous superheroes are retired or working for the government. ⁶⁾

The plot revolves around the characters' personal growth and moral problems as an inquiry into the death of a government-sponsored superhero forces them out of retirement. ⁷⁾

Watchmen's creative concentration is on its structure. Throughout the series, Gibbons employed a nine-panel grid arrangement and recurrent motifs such as a blood-stained happy face. ⁸⁾

Except for the last issue, each issue contains supplementary fictitious papers that add to the series' past. The plot of one story is linked with another. Tales of the Black Freighter, an in-story pirate comic that one of the characters reads. ⁹⁾

Watchmen, a financial success, has won critical acclaim in both the comics and mainstream press. Watchmen was named one of the finest English-language novels written since 1923 on Time's list of the 100 Best Novels. The BBC's Nicholas Barber called it as “the moment comic books grew up” in a retrospective assessment. ¹⁰⁾

Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder, was released in 2009 after several efforts to adapt the series into a feature picture. ¹¹⁾

To coincide with the debut of the film, a video game series, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, was launched in the same year. ¹²⁾

Watchmen was developed by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons and debuted in the 50th anniversary issue of DC Spotlight in 1985. It was finally released by DC Comics as a 12-issue maxiseries, with cover dates ranging from September 1986 to October 1987. It was later collected in a DC Comics trade paperback in 1987, with at least 24 printings as of March 2017. ¹³⁾

DC issued a limited-edition, slipcased hardback volume designed by Graphitti Design in February 1988. It included 48 pages of extra content, including the original proposal and concept drawings. ¹⁴⁾

Gibbons designed a smiling face insignia as part of The Comedian's suit to “lighten” the overall look. Later, a spray of blood was added to the badge to symbolize his murder. According to Gibbons, the creators came to see the blood-stained happy face as “a metaphor for the entire series”. ¹⁵⁾