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GREENSBORO -- The naked blue man.

The guy with the ink-blot mask in the dirty trench coat.

The thug with a smiley-face button.

This isn't the X-Men. Or the Avengers. Or the Justice League.

In fact, these aren't superheroes as you know them.

These are Watchmen.

Since its initial release as a 12-issue comic-book series in 1986 and 1987, "Watchmen" has become the most acclaimed graphic novel -- ever.

It's a Hugo award winner.

Time magazine called it one of the 100 best novels since 1923.

And today, "Watchmen" hits the big screen in what is one of the year's most anticipated movies.

The series from writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons first hit store shelves during a period of comic books when creators began trying out darker, more adult concepts.

The effect on pop culture was indelible.

"There was a lot of experimentation in the late '80s and a lot of new comics coming out, and 'Watchmen' hit the ground running, and everyone was talking about it," says M.A. Foster, a local science-fiction writer and longtime comic buff. "It collected a lot of attention at the time."

In the alternate 1985 where "Watchmen" is set, America won Vietnam and Richard Nixon never left office. As Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States continue to rise, World War III seems inevitable.

Meanwhile, superheroes have been banned by the government. As the story unfolds, we find our heroes trying to lead normal lives while longing for their old ones.

When one of them is murdered, the group is reunited, drawing the former heroes into an investigation that reveals something deeper as the story goes on.

The series' edgy material (there are scenes detailing a hero's rape) and complicated characters (one hero grapples with impotence, another with existence) set it apart from other comics of the time.

"The characters aren't really clear-cut in whether they're good or bad," says Julie Baker, a Wake Forest psychology lecturer and newfound comic enthusiast. "They're clearly good guys, but all of them have their flaws, and some of them are really bad flaws."

Much of the story's complexity stems from the quirks and conflicts of these psychologically damaged characters.

"It breaks into different areas as it goes, and a lot of it is: What would happen in the real world if there were superheroes?" says John Hitchcock, owner of Parts Unknown: The Comic Book Store in Greensboro.

Right and wrong. Black and white. Good and bad. In the world of "Watchmen," those lines frequently blur.

"In the majority of comics, your good guy is a good guy, and he's probably going to win," says Jermaine Exum, who runs Acme Comics in Greensboro. "But 'Watchmen' really deconstructs your characters. They're all very, very flawed people in a very, very flawed world."

But translating that kind of complexity onto the big screen has long been considered a near-impossible task -- Exum says many fans call the comic the "unfilmable project" -- and the 20-year wait for the R-rated movie provides testimony to this fact.

"To comic-book fans, 'Watchmen' is like 'Lord of the Rings' -- you never thought you could ever see it," Exum says.

Contact Alyse Knorr at alyse.knorr@news-record.com