This page is similar in name to other pages. See also Watchmen (Movie), Watchmen (Collected), Watchmen (TV Series), Watchmen Chapter I.
"Watchmen" was a 12-issue maxiseries published from September of 1986 through October of 1987, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The events of the story take place in 1985. The title takes its name from a popular translation of a latin phrase, "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?":[1] "Who Watches the Watchmen?"
History
Publication History
Although Alan Moore has stated he originally wished to use the old characters from MLJ Comics in the story, which were no longer being published at the time, he was unable to obtain usage rights. Dave Gibbons, who had worked at Charlton Comics, inspired him to use the old Charlton characters instead. However, Charlton had recently been bought by DC, and as they intended to introduce those characters into mainstream continuity, they were impossible to use as Moore envisioned. As a result, Moore simply made his own new characters based on the Charlton superheroes.
From 2012 to 2013, DC also published an additional tie-in, Before Watchmen, which covered the lives of most of the Minutemen before the events of the series. From 2017 to 2020, DC published a sequel comic, Doomsday Clock, which was also part of the DC Rebirth initiative and brought the Watchmen characters into the DC Universe.
A film adaptation was released in 2009, along with a video game, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh and a direct-to-DVD story, Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter. An HBO miniseries aired in 2019, partially adapting the comic but mostly acting as a sequel to it while ignoring Doomsday Clock. A sequel to the miniseries, Rorschach, was published between 2020 and 2021.
Plot
In the 1985 of an alternate reality where superheroes are real (though only one, Doctor Manhattan, has superpowers), one of the vigilantes, the Comedian, is brutally murdered. This causes one of his former colleagues, Rorschach, to investigate on his death, and uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.
Residents
- Rorschach (Reggie Long)
- Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) (Deceased)
- Ozymandias
- Comedian (Deceased)
- Nite Owl (Dan Dreiberg)
- Nite Owl (Hollis Mason) (Deceased)
- Doctor Manhattan (Deceased)
- Silk Spectre (Laurie Juspeczyk)
- Silk Spectre (Sally Jupiter) (Deceased)
- Captain Metropolis (Deceased)
- Hooded Justice (Deceased)
- Mothman (Deceased)
- Dollar Bill (Deceased)
- Silhouette (Deceased)
- Moloch (Deceased)
- Marionette
- Mime
- Clark Dreiberg
Notes
- In 2005, "Watchmen" became the only comic book to appear on Time Magazine's List of 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.
- The characters are mostly inspired by Charlton Comics characters:
- Rorschach is based on The Question and Mr. A.[2]
- Nite Owl is based on The Blue Beetle.
- The Comedian is based on The Peacemaker, with elements of Nick Fury and Captain America.[2]
- Doctor Manhattan is based on Captain Atom.
- Ozymandias is based on Thunderbolt.
- Silk Spectre takes inspiration from several female heroes, including Nightshade, Phantom Lady and Black Canary.[2]
See Also
- Characters from Watchmen
- Other things related to Watchmen
- Watchmen's Comic Appearances
- Reality Gallery: Watchmen