The only graphic novel to make the 1001 books to read before you die list, the Watchmen is a reprinted of all the series and put into a collected graphic novel. Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to critique the superhero concept and he did this extremely well. Watchmen is a superhero story like no other. Watchmen takes place on an alternate history Earth where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. 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.