BillyBatson4360 wrote:
Melkorjunior wrote:
...I'd argue that Watchmen is simply Moore riffing (albeit brilliantly) on other people's work, it had the advantage of being first: it was revolutionary, not in content but in style. Before Watchmen comics were universally regarded as kiddie stuff and the very idea of a moody, noirish thriller starring superheroes was brand new to the general public.

In point of fact, Watchmen was not the first. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was out earlier. That was that mini-series/graphic novel that broke the ground of being "moody & noirish" and touched off a multitude of imitations. Watchmen was second to the marketplace. A great work, but not the pioneering work.
According to John Byrne, when Watchmen started to arrive at the DC offices while Miller was still working on DKR, it had an immediate impact on Miller and influenced his work, particularly DKR issues 3 and 4 which were delayed from their original schedule.