The new and allegedly improved Wonder Woman (a.k.a Diana Prince), has been given a head-to-toe makeover by artist Jim Lee, replacing her signature American flag decorated briefs with skintight black pants and purging the super hero of all her trappings of Americana…

A comic book artist who has worked with DC Comics, which publishes the Wonder Woman comic books and owns her image, says the removal of the flag symbolism probably has a lot to do with international commercial intentions.

‘This new sleek and fashionable Wonder Woman will translate well to a film franchise centered on a female action hero. That wouldn’t have worked as well with the bright and flashy red, white and blue costume, and it definitely wouldn’t have played in the very lucrative international markets,’ said the artist, who wished not to be named because of ties to DC. ‘The new Wonder Woman costume looks like something you could put on Angelina Jolie, or on one of the bad guys from the Twilight saga.’

Okay, that last paragraph right there makes DC sound like the biggest bunch of idiots in the industry. It’s change for change’s sake, in the hopes of making a buck out of it. The 200+ comments tacked on to the Fox News article are on fire from fanboys and patriots alike. While I do believe Wonder Woman is overdue for an update, I think this was done poorly, for a couple of reasons. First, Jim Lee, you were my favorite X-Men artist in the 80s and 90s, but dude, this looks like something you would have designed for Rogue in 1998. Get with the 21st century. This is WONDER WOMAN, and you totally phoned it in.

Second, D.C., you are pandering to the Twihards now? I understand you need the money, but it is sad to see you seek it at the cost of your dignity.

As for all of you who have never spent money on a Wonder Woman comic in your life but are angry because she’s no longer dressed “patriotically”: yeah, she is an American icon, but she is also an illegal immigrant from an island of Amazons. You will forget this as quickly as you did Captain America’s “death”.

Finally, to anyone else even mildly worked up about this whole thing: relax. Wonder Woman’s costume is iconic. They tried this with Superman like 10 years ago, with Batman 15 years ago, and those failed terribly. The iconic stuff always comes back, because the real fans are not the tweens who show up at the box office for a movie trilogy and then go on to the next thing. They are the ones who stick around and forgive the stunts, patient in the knowledge that their beloved characters will eventually fall back into the hands of a creator who respects them. And no matter what, my daughter will never leave the house wearing anything like either of these costumes anyway, so all is well.

Wow, only nine months between updates! Um, I have an excuse, guys, I was, uh…stuck in the bathroom. Yeah. No wait, I had leprosy. It was terrible. Anyway, this one was based on a conversation we had at dinner last night wherein I made a joke that my kids didn’t appreciate…

If you’re a parent who hasn’t experienced the post-Halloween-candy-binge barffest, you haven’t lived! I recounted the experience in vivid detail on my old blog.

As a football fan who refuses to pay for television, this time of year is sometimes tough, but at least there’s ESPN.com’s GameCast feature where I can watch numbers change on the screen to let me know who’s winning. Funny thing was, I’ve tried to make my oldest son watch a game or two with me in the past and he wouldn’t have it. But he was totally fascinated with the gamecast and cheered and high-fived with me when the Bills scored a touchdown. Go figure.

I’ve been a fan of the Bills since I first saw Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed rip it up and stayed a faithful fan through four lost Super Bowls. I’ve even got their rookie cards placed over my drawing table to add an extra touch of greatness to my work (it’s very subtle…).

And of course, they lose by one point to the Pats tonight…sigh.

“In the aftermath of Proposition 8, it’s open season on Mormons, and the producers of HBO’s series Big Love are in the best position to give the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a big slap.The series focuses on members of one of several splinter groups that have left the Mormon Church over the issue of polygamy…

Big Love is not doing anything new. Anti-Mormon groups have been describing, depicting, or showing ersatz versions of the temple ceremonies for many years. Anyone who wants to know what goes on in the temples can find out with very little effort. So why are we Mormons upset about Big Love’s foray into anti-Mormon “exposé”?

It’s offensive when believers in one religion hold up the sacred rites of another religion to public ridicule. So we’re hurt — but we’re not surprised.

Mormons have always been the exception to America’s policy of religious tolerance. Throughout our history in America, Mormons have been oppressed by government, killed or driven out by mobs, slandered, and libeled — always by fellow Americans who professed to believe in religious tolerance…

So the church’s official advice to its members is: Ignore it…

Most Mormons are seeing the Big Love temple episode in the context of the recent outpouring of hatred and bile from those who most vehemently opposed Proposition 8. Mormons have been targeted for business boycotts; some have lost their jobs because they contributed to the campaign to defend marriage.

The result is that few of us have any desire to act as the worst of our opponents have acted. After someone has boycotted a friend’s business, it makes it a bit harder for you to want to call for a boycott.

By and large, while we’d prefer that everybody handle differences of opinion peacefully, we’d rather be persecuted than be the persecutors. The few times in our history when we have departed from that principle, the results have shamed us for generations. Tolerance works better.”

I’m interrupting the story this week for a little St. Patrick’s Day fun. To see the first appearance of my little wee leprechauns, check out today’s Classic Cartoonista on the blog…

Doing Cooties for so long has given me an itch to put a minor storyline into the strip; don’t worry, this one won’t last three years…