Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism and multi-layered dialogue, has changed both comics and film.Īlan Moore, who wanted to transcend the perceptions of the comic book medium as something juvenile, created Watchmen as an attempt to make 'a superhero Moby-Dick something that had that sort of weight, that sort of density.' Moore also named William S. In Watchmen, superheroes are depicted as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who have neuroses and failings, and who-with one notable exception-completely lack anything recognizable as a 'super power'. It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Watchmen is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time magazine's 2005 list of 'the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.' It was one of the first superhero comics to present itself as serious literature, and it also popularized the ' graphic novel' format. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987, it was later republished as a trade paperback. Watchmen is a twelve-issue graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. (left) and UK (right) collected editions of Watchmen, published by DC Comics and Titan Books.

Graphic novel watchmen