http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen
"
Watchmen is a twelve-issue
comic book limited series created by writer
Alan Moore, artist
Dave Gibbons, and
colorist John Higgins. The series was published by
DC Comics in single issues during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form.
Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring
superhero characters that the company had acquired from
Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor
Dick Giordano convinced the writer to create original characters instead.
Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to
deconstruct the superhero concept.
Watchmen takes place in an
alternate history United States where the country is edging closer to a
nuclear war with the
Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most costumed superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the personal development and struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement and eventually leads them to confront a plot by one of their own to stave off nuclear war by killing millions of innocent people."
Hope that helps, Tony!
- Xanthos