Watchmen

Watchmen, graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, published as a 12-part series by DC Comics from September 1986 to October 1987. The complex characters and mature story line were unlike anything previously seen in the superhero genre.

Who watches the Watchmen?

In 1983 DC acquired the rights to the Action Heroes line, a cast of characters owned by fellow publisher Charlton Comics. In their proposed story for Watchmen, Moore and Gibbons intended to use those characters in a way that was deemed incompatible with DC’s editorial plans. As DC wished to integrate many of those characters into its main comic universe, a decision was made to use an all-new cast—drawing heavily on Charlton characters as inspiration—and to set them in a separate world.