Crossword clues for watchmen
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Watchman \Watch"man\, n.; pl. Watchmen.
One set to watch; a person who keeps guard; a guard; a sentinel.
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Specifically, one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night.
Watchman beetle (Zo["o]l.), the European dor.
Watchman's clock, a watchman's detector in which the apparatus for recording the times of visiting several stations is contained within a single clock.
Watchman's detector, or Watchman's time detector, an apparatus for recording the time when a watchman visits a station on his rounds.
Watchman's rattle, an instrument having at the end of a handle a revolving arm, which, by the action of a strong spring upon cogs, produces, when in motion, a loud, harsh, rattling sound.
Wiktionary
n. (plural of watchman English)
Wikipedia
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 and their presence changed history so that the United States won the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal was never exposed. 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 to be one of the most significant works of 20th-century literature. Watchmen was recognized in Times List of the 100 Best Novels as one of the best English language novels published since 1923, and placed #91 on The Comics Journals list of the top 100 comics of the 20th century. The BBC described it as "The moment comic books grew up."
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 published Before Watchmen, a comic-book series acting as a prequel to the original Watchmen series, without Moore and Gibbons' involvement.
Watchmen is a 2009 American epic neo-noir superhero film directed by Zack Snyder, based on the 1986–87 DC Comics limited series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It stars an ensemble cast of Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. A dark satirical take on the superhero genre, the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigates the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy, while their moral limitations are challenged by the complex nature of the circumstances.
From October 1987 until October 2005, a live-action film adaptation became stranded in development hell: Producer Lawrence Gordon began developing the project at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., parent company of Watchmen publisher DC Comics, with producer Joel Silver and director Terry Gilliam, the latter eventually deeming the complex comic "un-filmable"; During the 2000s, Gordon and Lloyd Levin collaborated with Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures to produce a script by David Hayter; Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were also attached to the project before it was canceled over budget disputes; and, in October 2005, the project returned to Warner Bros., where Snyder was hired to direct — Paramount remained as international distributor. Fox sued Warner Bros for copyright violation arising from Gordon's failure to pay a buy-out in 1991, which enabled him to develop the film at the other studios. Fox and Warner Bros settled this before the film's release with Fox receiving a portion of the gross. Principal photography began in Vancouver, September 2007. As with his previous film 300, Snyder closely modelled his storyboards on the comic, but chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using green screens and opted for real sets instead.
Following its world premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on February 23, 2009, the film was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on March 6, 2009, grossing $55 million on the opening weekend, and over $185 million at the worldwide box office. The film's reception has been polarized between positive and negative reactions.
A DVD based on elements of the Watchmen universe was released, including an animated adaptation of the comic Tales of the Black Freighter within the story, starring Gerard Butler, and the fictional biography Under the Hood, detailing the older generation of superheroes from the film's back-story. A director's cut with 24 minutes of additional footage was released in July 2009. The "Ultimate Cut" edition incorporated the animated comic Tales of the Black Freighter into the narrative as it was in the original graphic novel, lengthening the runtime to 215 minutes, and was released on November 3, 2009.
Usage examples of "watchmen".
I assume, of course, that Star Watchmen are trained to be warriors and not merely technicians.
The five additional Watchmen were the roughest, hardiest, most aggressive manto-man fighters that the Star Watch could provide on one day's notice.
The other Watchmen stood aside while Hector slowly backpedaled, stumbling slightly on the uneven ground.
The door slid open to reveal a pair of sturdy, steeleyed Watchmen, a half-dozen Acquatainian honor guards, and—in their midst—the paunchy, jowly figure of Sir Harold Spencer, dressed in a shapeless gray jumpsuit.
But to Kanus, it must be equally obvious that he cannot attack Acquatainia without the risk of killing Watchmen and immediately involving the Commonwealth.
There were watchmen walking around the streets right now who wouldn't have legs if it wasn't for Igor's genius with a needle.
The yellow light of the gathering storm glinted off the helmets of watchmen who were hurrying through the streets.
A couple of watchmen tried to waylay him, but he showed them the badge and more importantly he had the voice now, it had come back to him.
Like petty criminals everywhere, the watchmen prided themselves that there were some depths to which they would not sink.
Scraps between watchmen hadn't been uncommon when Vimes was a constable.
There was no obvious sound from the watchmen but over the wagon hung the word: 'Ah-hah .
Out in the street, some of the watchmen were standing around a makeshift fire with the remnant of the crowd.
Ferret cowered against the wall and saw two watchmen unlock the cell next door, drag the shackled occupant upright and out into the cellar and then hustle him around the corner.
Someone had even hung up the swordsmanship targets, which would certainly be helpful if the watchmen were faced with an enemy who was armless and tied to a pole.
The watchmen had shields, but they were light wicker-work things intended to turn blows and deflect stones.