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 issue during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form.
Watchmen received a Hugo Award in the Other Forms category in 1988

The Plot
In October 1985, New York City police are investigating the murder of Edward Blake. With the police having no leads, costumed vigilante Rorschach decides to probe further. Discovering Blake to be the face behind the Comedian, a costumed hero employed by the United States government, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to eliminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades, Dan Dreiberg (formerly Nite Owl), the super-powered and emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias and now the world's richest man).

After Blake's funeral, Doctor Manhattan is accused on national television of being a carcinogenic threat to friends and colleagues. When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan instead exiles himself to Mars. In doing so he throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on perceived American weakness. Rorschach's paranoid beliefs appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murder and arrested.

Jaded with her relationship and no longer kept on retainer by the government, Juspeczyk stays with Dan Dreiberg. Dreiberg and Juspeczyk don their costumes as they grow closer together. With Dreiberg starting to believe some aspects of Rorschach's conspiracy theory, the pair take it upon themselves to free him from prison. Doctor Manhattan, after analyzing his own personal history, places the fate of his involvement with human affairs in Laurie's hands. He teleports her to Mars to make the case for emotional investment. During the course of the argument, Juspeczyk is forced to come to terms with the fact that Blake was her biological father, the discovery of which re-engages Doctor Manhattan's interest in humanity.

On Earth, Nite Owl and Rorschach continue to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of the Comedian. They discover evidence that their former comrade Adrian Veidt may be behind the plan. Confronting Veidt at his Antarctic retreat, the pair discover the far-reaching implications of the multiple mysteries. Veidt explains his underlying plan is to save humanity from impending nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union by faking an alien invasion in New York City, which he hopes will unite the nations against a perceived common enemy. Finding his logic callous and abhorrent, Dreiberg and Rorschach attempt to stop him but discover that Veidt has already enacted his plan.

When Doctor Manhattan and Laurie arrive back to Earth, they are confronted by mass destruction and wide scale death in New York City. Doctor Manhattan notices his abilities are limited by tachyons emanating from the Antarctic, and the pair teleport there. They discover Veidt's involvement and confront him. Veidt shows everyone news broadcasts confirming the cessation of global hostilities, leading almost all present to agree that concealing the truth from the public is in the best interests of the world. Rorschach refuses to compromise and leaves, intent on revealing the truth. As he is making his way back, he is confronted by Manhattan. Rorschach tells Mahattan to kill him, and he is vaporized by the super-powered being. Dreiberg and Juspeczyk go into hiding under new identities, while Veidt asks Manhattan if he did the right thing in the end. Manhattan responds with "Nothing ever ends" before leaving Earth.

From Wikipedia