- Dr. Manhattan? Who's that? I could use a good dentist. It hurts when I smile.
- — Joker
Doomsday Clock #6 is an issue of the series Doomsday Clock (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 2018. It was published on July 25, 2018.
Synopsis for "Truly Laugh"
In the sewers of Gotham City, Marionette and Mime are escorted by the Joker and his henchmen, following his attack on the GCPD Headquarters. Along with them is an unconscious Batman, who's been temporarily paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. As they walk, Marionette remembers her past, and her first encounter with Mime:
Erika Manson was raised by her immigrant father, who moved to America to open a doll-making shop. Across the street lied "Maez Glass", a store run by a Hispanic family. The son, Marcos Maez, was a mute, and verbally abused by his step-father. Marcos enters the Manson store one day, and is shown around by Erika.
While treading through the sewers, they encounter a group of henchmen belonging to Mister Freeze, who seem to be lost. Coincidentally, the henchmen happen to be attending the same event the Joker is: the formation of a new coalition of villains dubbed the "League of Villainy". Joker coerces the henchmen into joining his ranks, branding them with his signature "J". Mime and Marionette rebuff Joker's offer, attacking his men, ending with Joker accidentally shooting one of his own. He laughs, and the group proceeds towards the meeting.
One day, while Erika walked with her Marionette puppet, she was confronted by a group of bullies. The bullies insulted Erika's father, accusing him of being a "child molester", as well as taking her puppet. She attacked the leader, but her cronies pinned Erika down, preparing to cut her hair. The bullies were then stopped by Marcos, who assaulted them with glass bottles. Erika tackled the leader, and happily asked Marcos for more bottles.
Joker leads the group to the meeting, where a large group of villains have gathered, all led by the Riddler. Following the controversy over the "Superman Theory", the villains have banded together in order to determine a safe way of operation. Numerous rumors have arisen; Green Lantern's adversaries leaving for the stars, the Amazons of Themyscira kidnapping Wonder Woman back to Themyscira, and the only potential safe haven for villains being in Kahndaq. Joker then announces his arrival, much to the dismay of Riddler.
After showing Marcos around his shop, Erika's father offered to make Marcos a puppet of his choosing. However, two police officers enter the shop, offering their "grievances" for Marcos' mother. As Marcos ran out of the store, Erika's father gives the officers a Leprechaun puppet for the officer's "daughter".
A minor Firestorm villain, Typhoon, is accused of being involved with the "Theory", prompting the League to turn on him. As he prepares to attack, Typhoon is shot through the head by none other than the Comedian, who proceeds to open fire on the villains. Mime distracts Blake, allowing him and Marionette to escape while the Comedian blows up the room.
Later that day, the officers return, wondering which puppet Erika's father "used" this time. When he tries to refuse the officers, they assault him, stating that their "boss" brought him to this country thereby owning him. These corrupt cops had been bringing in immigrants and allowing them to open shops, so that they could use them to smuggle drugs. The cops are implied to have killed Marcos' mother, and threaten to kill Erika if he doesn't comply. He accedes, revealing the delivery to be inside a Nite-Owl puppet.
After the encounter, Erika comes to the shop, only to find that her father has committed suicide, as he believed that she was safer with him gone. The corrupt officers arrive at the scene, prompting Erika to stab one in the neck with a pair of scissors. The other prepares to shoot her, but Marcos stops him, allowing Erika to strangle him with a cord.
The two run away and live on the streets, eventually assuming the persona's of Mime and Marionette. Following their encounter with Doctor Manhattan, Erika gives birth to their child, while Marcos remained trapped in prison. Their baby was taken, never to be seen again.
As Mime and Marionette resolve to find their baby, they are caught by the Comedian. Blake believes he only needs one of them alive to find Ozymandias, but he is electrocuted by the Joker, who joins them in their quest to find Manhattan.
Appearing in "Truly Laugh"
Featured Characters:
- Marionette/Erika Manson (Watchmen Universe) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
- Mime/Marcos Maez (Watchmen Universe) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- League of Villainy (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- The Comedian (Watchmen Universe)
- Unnamed corrupted policemen (Watchmen Universe) (Single appearance) (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Anita Maez (Watchmen Universe) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback) (Cameo)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne)
- Big Monster Action (First appearance)
- Rising Sun (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- Goraiko (Mentioned only)
- Hammersuit Zero-X (Mentioned only)
- Judomaster (Sonia Sato) (Mentioned only)
- Naiad (Mentioned only)
- Ram (Mentioned only)
- Samurai (Mentioned only)
- Black Adam (In a photograph only)
- The Creeper (Jack Ryder) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- Elite Basij (First appearance)
- Sayeh the Seer (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- The Blacksmith of Tehran (Mentioned only)
- Manticore (Mentioned only)
- The Patient One (Mentioned only)
- Sirocco (Mentioned only)
- Super-Shayk (Mentioned only)
- Erika Manson's father (Watchmen Universe) (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- Martin Stein (Behind the scenes)
- Joker's Gang
- Shakey (Single appearance)
- Marcos Maez's step-father (Watchmen Universe) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Mime and Marionette's son (Watchmen Universe) (Unnamed) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Mister Freeze's Gang
- Brian (Single appearance)
- Sandstorm (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- Sleeping Soldiers (First appearance)
- Dreamer (Elizabeth Clawman) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- Argonaut (Mentioned only)
- Dark Ranger (Mentioned only)
- Miss Midnight (Mentioned only)
- Tasmanian Devil (Mentioned only)
- Umbaluru (Mentioned only)
- Sophia (Watchmen) (Single appearance) (Flashback only)
- Amazons of Themyscira (Mentioned only)
- Bane (Mentioned only)
- Crime Syndicate (Earth 3) (Mentioned only)
- Davey Drake (Mentioned only)
- Department of Metahuman Affairs (Mentioned only)
- Dr. Jivan Shi (Mentioned only)
- Doctor Manhattan/Jon Osterman (Watchmen Universe) (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (Mentioned only)
- Harley Quinn (Mentioned only)
- Jim Drake (Mentioned only)
- Joan of Arc (Mentioned only)
- Justice League (Mentioned only)
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) (Mentioned only)
- Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln) (Mentioned only)
- King Kobra (Jason Burr) (Mentioned only)
- Lisa Drake (Mentioned only)
- Marylin Levenson (Mentioned only)
- Nancy Conway (Mentioned only)
- Nite-Owl/Daniel Dreiberg (Watchmen Universe) (Mentioned only)
- Ozymandias (Watchmen Universe) (Mentioned only)
- Puppeteer (Mentioned only)
- Suicide Squad (Mentioned only)
- Stephen Shin (Mentioned only)
- Tattooed Man (Mark Richards) (Mentioned only)
- Ultimon (Dai Yokohama) (Mentioned only)
- United States Marine Corps (Mentioned only)
- Anne Bonney (Mentioned only)
- Australian Government (Mentioned only)
- Cleopatra (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth 0
- United States of America
- Gotham City
- Gotham City Sewers
- Arkham Asylum (Mentioned only)
- Boston (Mentioned only)
- The Sanctuary (Mentioned only)
- Washington, D.C. (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City
- Australia (Mentioned only)
- Egypt (Mentioned only)
- France
- Orleans (Mentioned only)
- Iran (Mentioned only)
- Tehran (Mentioned only)
- Japan (Mentioned only)
- Kahndaq (Mentioned only)
- Themyscira (Mentioned only)
- United States of America
- Watchmen Universe (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
Items:
Concepts:
- The Sanctuary Incident (Mentioned only)
Notes
- The supplemental information section contains the Department of Metahuman affairs files on Typhoon.
- In this issue, Mark Richards is identified as the first Tattooed Man by Abel Tarrant. In Pre-Flashpoint continuity, Tarrant was the first Tattooed Man.
- The Sanctuary disaster from Heroes in Crisis (Volume 1) is referenced in this issue.
See Also