Watchmen is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore.  It is based in alternate world where the United States is about to go to war with Russia.  While it is a comic about superheroes, only one of them has any sort of supernatural ability. Dr. Manhattan used to be a nuclear physicist who was disintegrated in an intrinsic field subtractor, then was able to reassemble himself.  By doing so he gained the ability to manipulate atoms and is aware of every moment of his existence.  He becomes America's not so secret weapon, and is what is keeping the Russians from starting a war.  The rest of the superheroes in the book are just humans in costumes.  They are all skilled in some way in combat, some have technology to assist them, but none have any abilities like Dr. Manhattan.  The book came out in the postmodernism time.  America was rejecting meta-narratives.  There was a rejection of science, people claiming science is objective.  What was real in your life was not the reality of someone else.  What we know today is just a product of what was written down in the past, it does not mean it is true.  Watchmen deconstructs what we know of superheroes.  The main superheroes can all be considered villains and all question what they are doing.  Only one out of the main group can be seen as a true hero, Nite Owl II.  He got into the business inspired by the first Nite Owl. He followed the rules when the government banned masked heroes and now just lives and ordinary life.If it was the real world, the characters would be jokes, and that is what Moore wanted.