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''Watchmen'' is an American comic-book limited series published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987, and collected in 1987. The series was created by a British collaboration consisting of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. ''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 Moore to create original characters instead. Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to deconstruct and parody the superhero concept. ''Watchmen'' depicts an alternate history where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. In 1985, the country is edging toward nuclear war with the Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most former superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the personal development and moral struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement. Creatively, the focus of ''Watchmen'' is on its structure. Gibbons used a nine-panel grid layout throughout the series and added recurring symbols such as a blood-stained smiley face. All but the last issue feature supplemental fictional documents that add to the series' backstory, and the narrative is intertwined with that of another story, an in-story pirate comic titled ''Tales of the Black Freighter'', which one of the characters reads. Structured, at times, as a nonlinear narrative, the story skips through space, time and plot. In the same manner, entire scenes and dialogue have parallels with others through synchronicity, coincidence and repeated imagery. A commercial success, ''Watchmen'' has received critical acclaim both in the comics and mainstream press, and is considered by several critics and reviewers as one of the most significant works of 20th century literature. ''Watchmen'' was recognized in ''Time''s List of the 100 Best Novels as one of the best English language novels published since 1923, and placed #91 on ''The Comics Journal''s list of the top 100 comics of the 20th century. After a number of attempts to adapt the series into a feature film, director Zack Snyder's ''Watchmen'' was released in 2009. A video game series, ''Watchmen: The End Is Nigh'', was released in the same year to coincide with the film's release. In 2012, DC Comics began publishing ''Before Watchmen'', a comic-book series acting as a prequel to the original ''Watchmen'' series, without Moore and Gibbons' involvement. ==Publication history== ''Watchmen'', created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, was first published as a 12-issue miniseries from DC Comics, cover-dated September 1986 to October 1987.〔(''Watchmen'' (DC, 1986 series) ) at the Grand Comics Database.〕 It was subsequently collected in 1987 as a DC Comics trade paperback graphic novel that has had at least 22 printings as of September 2008;〔(''Watchmen'' (DC, 1987) ) at the Grand Comics Database.〕 as well, a trade paperback was published by Warner Books, a DC sister company, in 1987.〔(''Watchmen'' (Warner Books, 1987) ) at the Grand Comics Database.〕 In February 1988, DC published a limited-edition, slipcased hardcover volume, produced by Graphitti Design, that contained 48 pages of bonus material, including the original proposal and concept art.〔(''Watchmen'' (DC, 1988) ) at the Grand Comics Database.〕〔Vanderplog, Scott. "(''Graphitti Watchmen HC'' )" (review). ComicBookDaily.com (January 25, 2012). With illustrations.〕 In 2005, DC released ''Absolute Watchmen'', an oversized slipcased hardcover edition of the series in DC's Absolute Edition format. Assembled under the supervision of Dave Gibbons, ''Absolute Watchmen'' included the Graphitti materials, as well as restored and recolored art by John Higgins.〔Wolk, Douglas. ("20 Years Watching the Watchmen" ). ''Publishers Weekly'', October 18, 2005. Retrieved on October 13, 2008. (Archived ) on 16 December 2008.〕 That December DC published a new printing of ''Watchmen'' issue #1 at the original 1986 cover price of $1.50 as part of its "Millennium Edition" line.〔(''Millennium Edition: Watchmen #1'' (March 2000) ) at the Grand Comics Database.〕 In 2012, DC launched a prequel line, with various creative teams producing the characters' early adventures before the events of the graphic novel.〔(''Watchmen'' ) titles at the Grand Comics Database.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Watchmen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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