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Okay, this is just silly. There's a post over at Newsarama snickering about the fact that a Flashpoint image of Mera features her wearing the same helmet as Flashpoint's Wonder Woman.

It's pretty simple, really. It's originally Mera's helmet, Wonder Woman kills her (taking the helmet as a trophy), and that's why Aquaman really wants to kill Wonder Woman.

It's not that hard to put two and two together, people.

Occasionally I'll read a comic that -- for one reason or another -- really hits me. By that I mean that the comic gets into my head. I can't stop thinking about it. I read it over and over. Then I read it again. This week, that comic was Wonder Woman #609.

I've actually been looking forward to this issue for a month, ever since the Doctor Psycho reveal at the end. Doctor Psycho is one of those characters that once upon a time I never would have given much thought to. Then Gail Simone got hold of him during the old Villains United story and turned him into an interesting character. She has a tendency to do that.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from this issue. But in my opinion Phil Hester (I don't think there's much Straczynski left) created something really special with this story. He's taken the character of Doctor Psycho to another, fascinating level. And he's done even more with Wonder Woman.

I will admit that sometimes I'm not very good at explaining what I like about a given comic. But this one has it. It has that something special that makes a comic more than just ordinary. That beautiful combination of word and image that can only be accomplished in the medium of comics.

Hopefully after this is all over Phil Hester will stay around. Because as much as I've come to enjoy it (and I'm as surprised about that as anyone) Diana's odyssey has to come to an end sometime. As Edgar says, she must become Wonder Woman.

There are other little treats hidden in Wonder Woman #609 as well. Diana Prince. "The music of a distant parade." Everything just comes together. And it reminds why I like comics. And why I love Wonder Woman.

I never got around to talking about the Wonder Woman TV show costume because it premiered on a Friday. As you have all noticed, I am a terrible blogger and can rarely convince myself to post on Fridays.

Luckily, Scipio did talk about it. He's basically spot on. Every time I looked at the image I thought "that reminds me of something. And not something good." And it's exactly what Scipio says it is: one of those bad "sexy super-hero" costumes. Here are my main problems with the outfit, from top to bottom.

1. The Face: Now, this is not at all a remark about Ms. Palicki's looks She is certainly a very attractive woman. The problem is the way everything frames her face. There's something seriously off about the way her hair sits. The tiara isn't quite right, either. It's... Too insubstantial, if you know what I mean. And her lips are just a little too bright red.

2. The Bustier: Is that supposed to be metal on there? Because it looks like plastic. It should certainly look like metal. That's important because I don't think Wonder Woman is going to be running around wearing plastic. Same thing goes for the bracelets.

3. The Pants: The fact that there are pants isn't a problem. I like the pants. The issue is that they're too bright and shiny. The pants also look like they're made of plastic. That just won't do.

4. The Boots: First of all, the heels are too high. They can be a little high. But what she's wearing now is just ridiculous. Secondly: the boots must be red. This is not some slavish desperation related to the fact that Wonder Woman's boots are usually red. The problem is that there's not contrast with the pants.

Now, my opinions don't really matter. After all, I'm just one fan crying out in the wilderness. But for what it's worth, that's what I think.

Most of you have probably already heard that NBC has ordered a pilot for a Wonder Woman series. I'd like to say that I never know what to expect with this kind of thing. But the truth is we always know what to expect. In fact, modern adaptations of comic book properties inevitably follow one simple rule:

Stray as far from the source material as possible.

Apparently this new "Wonder Woman" is a corporate executive in Los Angeles. Of course she is. Does anyone remember the short lived Birds of Prey? television series? Of course not. It was terrible. And it was terrible in large part because it strayed heavily from the source material.

Why do people in TV do this sort of thing? It's as though they don't understand basic things like cause and effect. If something survives for sixty or seventy years with certain core elements intact it must be because those core elements are unappealing to the masses. Right? Right?

Maybe this TV Wonder Woman will be good. I'd love for that to be see. It would be pretty amazing to see a modern Wonder Woman on the small screen. But even it if it is good, I'm not sure it will be Wonder Woman.

I was never particularly enthusiastic about J. Michael Straczynski's run on Wonder Woman. I initially had high hopes for Superman, but have since been disappointed. But I never had any particular feelings about what he was doing with Wonder Woman.

Still, I've read and mostly enjoyed the story. I like these kinds of alternate history things, and the time change with Diana seems to be playing into issues with time in Generation Lost and other comics. And you all know how much I like it when things connect.

Things have been changing recently, however. Mr. Straczynski is leaving Wonder Woman (and Superman) before his stories are done. Phil Hester is taking over on Wonder Woman and I'm actually starting to get excited about the book.

I can't say what exactly it is. But a lot of it may have to do with Mr. Hester's enthusiasm. Back when I was reading interviews with Mr. Straczynski about Wonder Woman there didn't seem to be much of that. It almost felt like he was told: "if you want to write Superman then you have to write Wonder Woman too."

I doubt that's how it went down, but there was definitely an enthusiasm gap in regards to the two books. Mr. Straczynski was definitely excited about writing for Superman. And that enthusiasm was infectious for me.

Phil Hester seems to have the same sort of enthusiasm for writing for Wonder Woman. He seems genuinely excited about the opportunity to pull out old Wonder Woman villains and throw them at our heroine. And I'm starting to feel a little of that tingle of excitement again.

To Mr. Hester I say: well done, sir. You've definitely got me on board. And if you give us the return of Doctor Domino I'll sing your praises to the ends of the earth.

Whew, that was a long dry spell. Still here, still in Japan. Sorry about that. My summer Japanese course has me pretty much swamped. I'm sure I could find the time to post if I looked, but my mind is so focused on the program that I can't seem to see anything else. It's like wearing blinders, you know.

The big thing I missed is, of course, the Wonder Woman news. It's funny that I posted about Wonder Woman the day before that broke. About how I hadn't been interested in the character since Greg Rucka wrote her -- and never before. It's funny because that's what Mr. Straczynski is trying to do with this new direction: bring people like me in.

It's funny, but it might actually work. I know a lot of people aren't happy with this change. But it's going to be like Spider-Man's black costume and Superman Red/Blue: temporary. This is an attempt to shake things up and get people to put their eyes on the book.

Will it work? It's hard to say. There's certainly been a lot of press about this story. But whenever there's a comic book movie or Marvel does something wacky there's a lot of press. It rarely translates into extra sales. And if it does (see Obama Meets Spider-Man) it usually is only temporary. There's really only a really devoted base of comic readers. And the only way to get big numbers on a book is to drag them in.

And the way to keep them is to tell a good story. It's too early to tell if J. Michael Straczynski's Wonder Woman story will be good enough to do that. But if he can pull people in and make them stay... That'd be a miracle.

The Source says that it's "Wonder Woman Week." That's certainly a good idea. But I have a problem with Wonder Woman.

Now, before you start reacting let me explain: I love the idea of Wonder Woman. It think when she's done well she's absolutely fantastic. The problem is, I've only found one writer who I really think does her well. And as much as I usually love Gail Simone, that writer is Greg Rucka.

I really loved Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman. He was able to breath life into her in a way I'd never seen. I wasn't buying Wonder Woman before Greg Rucka came along. And despite all the missteps, I've been buying it since.

People talk about Superman being hard to write. It seems to me that Wonder Woman is even worse. I can think up a few interesting Superman tales. They might night be publication worthy, but they're still there floating around in my head. I have no ideas for Wonder Woman.

This all brings me to J. Michael Straczynski's upcoming run on Wonder Woman. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect. For me his stuff goes back and forth, and I haven't read any of his Marvel stuff anyway. Can Mr. Straczynski solve my Wonder Woman problem? I don't know. If not, I'll have to wait in vain for Greg Rucka to come back...

It's funny how events in my real life and news in the comic world sometimes come together so well. To explain what I mean, let me relay a few things that happened to me recently.

Last week I was walking to the building where my Japanese class is held. On the sidewalk in front of the door I noticed one of your University IDs sitting on the ground. Of course I picked it up. Then I immediately called the number for the ID center on the back. They told me they'd check to see if it was an active card -- and it was. They asked me if I could bring it the the ID center. Well, the ID center was on the other side of campus. But of course I took it there anyway.

Flash forward to today. I was walking to campus in the morning when I spied a wallet just sitting on the ground. The cash card and ID where right out there in the open for anyone to see. I scooped it up in my hands and quickly took a look at the picture on the ID. If my guess was correct, the girl walking with her boyfriend a considerable distance ahead of me looked a lot like the girl on the ID. I started running to catch up with them. I detoured around the front of them to make sure it was really her -- it was -- and returned the wallet.

Now, the common thread in these stories is this: in both cases the person I returned the lost item to seemed absolutely astonished that I would do such a thing. The woman at the ID kept thanking me and going on about what a nice thing I'd done -- as though no one had every done anything nice before. The girl was -- I kid you not -- speechless. Her boyfriend managed to stammer out his thanks and insisted on shaking my hand.

So my question is this: has our discourse degraded so much that these simple acts of kindness and courtesy would seem so monumental? Is the thought that a person wouldn't leave an ID on the ground because they couldn't be bothered to pick it up so surprising? Is the idea that a person might return a wallet rather than stripping it of cash and cards so unbelievable? After all, I was only did what I always try to do: whatever Superman would do.

And I'm not the only one who asks himself "what would Superman do?" Imagine my surprise in reading today's news about the new writer on Superman and Wonder Woman and finding that J. Michael Straczynski asks himself that question too. I've heard his story about tackling the guy at the con before, but it resonates with me every time. And so does carrying around the "S" shield.

I don't like flying. Which is hard to deal with when you study Japan and need to go back and forth across the ocean on a semi-regular basis. Flying makes me uncomfortable, so whenever I have to get back on the plane I have the "S" somewhere on me. It may be on my shirt or on a card in my wallet. I feel better for having it there. I know it's silly and maybe a little childish, but like Mr. Straczynski says, it works.

What I'm getting at is what I've said before: J. Michael Straczynski gets Superman. Every time I hear Mr. Straczynski talk about the Man of Steel I feel that he has a passion for Superman. The same passion that I feel. It's good to know that when I think things like "what would Superman do?" I don't have to feel silly. After all, I'm not alone. Even if he's the only one, other people are thinking it too.

Thursday Night Thinking returns with another classic thought from DC's Silver Age!

Wait, what?

Okay, I'm going to ask for some help here. I don't ask for help often, but I'm not usually at a loss as to how to interpret something in my comics for the week.

Anyway, this plea for aid goes out to everyone who read Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3. Most of it was straightforward and I rarely come away from a Greg Rucka comic feeling anything but satisfied. But right now I'm kind of confused. So here's the question: what exactly is Mera's terrible secret that she's been bottling up or whatever it is?

It seems like a big deal is made out of something that Mera has kept secret for a long time. Something she didn't tell "him." I'm assuming that "he" is Aquaman, but who knows? The comic isn't very clear. What is it that she kept a secret? That she loved Aquaman? She married him so I thought that was self evident. That she hated him? Maybe it's that. Really, I don't know what the big reveal is supposed to be.

Maybe I'm being dense here, but I could really use an assist. Use your superior powers of observation to aid me, loyal readers!

I picked up the Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD film today. Short review: I freakin' loved it.

Longer review: It was really, really good. It actually had everything you could possibly hope for from a Wonder Woman movie. There was fantastic action galore, super-heroics, and an invisible jet.

I'm not going to go into too much here because I don't want to ruin anything for anybody. There is so much good stuff in the move that it would be a shame if I gave away even one great scene here.

Basically it boils down to this: from a comic fan's standpoint this is probably the best adaptation of Wonder Woman that's ever been done. I do not understand why Warner Bros' animation division keeps hitting them out of the park but their feature film division can't seem to walk and chew gum at the same time...

Keep you eye out for an awesome guest star in the last few minutes of the film!

Gimme that old time religion:

Zeus will rip out your heart. Those Greeks knew how to play the game...

Okay, I'm going to express an opinion here that could very easily be misconstrued. I really hope nobody does. Listen to everything I say before you start lighting torches. All right, here goes:

I liked naked Cheetah better.

Okay, bear with me. This isn't because I like to look at pictures of naked cat-ladies (though that may be true). No, it's because Cheetah's current outfit has really brought down her "menace level."

Allow me to explain my reasoning. Cheetah is one of Wonder Woman's better villains. But that's not just because of how powerful she is. A lot of it has to do with what she represents. Cheetah is a character who has sacrificed her humanity for power. She has become animalistic. Bestial. She is less a person and more a blood-thirsty predator.

I don't have to tell you that blood-thirsty predators don't wear belly shirts. In my eyes the costume just makes her look silly. Cheetah is supposed to be a villain driven by instinct and blood lust. But when she's wearing that outfit she looks like someone in a Halloween costume.

Cheetah needs to seem like a dangerous, uncontrollable animal. That's what makes her a menacing villain. Animals, of course, don't wear clothes. So Cheetah should be naked.

Ha HA! You came here for Thursday Night Thinking, didn't you? Won't you be surprised when you discover...

Thursday Night Thinking!

Had you going there for a second, didn't I?

Okay, has everybody else seen the trailer for this Wonder Woman movie? I imagine so. It's not the sort of thing that we comic fans tend to miss. Especially something that -- to me at least -- looks as good as this thing does.

There's not much to see, admittedly. But what there is seems very enticing to me. It looks like there's going to be quite a lot of hitting. Sword fights. Probably some explosions. The only thing that might make me more excited would be if the hitting was hitting nazis.

But minotaurs work, too...

Welcome, one and all, to the fifty-second edition of Thursday Night Thinking! Fifty-two, my friends. There's symbolism there. I'm sure of it.

Also, I love how in the DC Universe when someone sees a gorilla they just sort of naturally assume it's Gorilla Grodd. Must be a great place to live...

So, DC has announced their next weekly as Trinity. Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. Here's the thing, though: I knew this was what it was going to be.

You can believe me or not, but I guessed quite a while ago that this is what we were going to get. In fact, I bet a lot of you out there guessed the same thing. The signs weren't exactly subtle. Hell, I even managed to guess the title.

There are bigger questions, of course, that we don't have answers to. What sort of comic is Trinity really going to be? How connected to the DCU? And of course, how will it be related to the next inevitable event that DC does?

My hope is that Trinity will be more or less a stand alone story. I think there's a lot that can be done with the Big Three as a team. Keith Giffen gave us a taste of that in Four Horsemen.

But me? More than anything I'm looking forward to the backups that'll introduce new characters. I love that sort of stuff.

Well, Kurt Busiek is going to be leaving Superman in a few months. With a few exceptions, I've really enjoyed the work he's done on the book. He's taken classic stories and ideas from Superman's past and woven them together into genuinely entertaining stories for the modern day.

But I'm not too sad. All signs point to Kurt Busiek being the brains behind DC's next weekly series. And if DC works out the kinks that were in Countdown, I think it'll be a lot of fun. Especially since the rumors say that Superman will be playing a big role. And Busiek on more Superman is always a good think to me.

I have trouble imagining comics now without a DC weekly. So I really hope they keep it up. But this time, I imagine it'll be a lot more like the success of 52. Undoubtedly the story will be self contained and much more focused. If it's true that it's going to be about Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, then it'll probably focus only on them.

If we're lucky, it'll have a feel similar to Keith Giffen's Four Horsemen mini. That was a fun story about the Big Three working together -- but each in their own way -- to take down the bad guys. I'd certainly be willing to see more of that.

And take notes, Mr. Busiek: more of Batman slapping Snapper Carr couldn't hurt...

I just wanted to say, straight out, that I'm really looking forward to Gail Simone's Wonder Woman. (I love you, Gail!)

And reading about the plans for the series make me more and more excited. The idea of every issue being like a Ray Harryhausen movie makes me want to dance a ridiculous jig with glee.

It's exactly the way it needs to be, you know. Batman's got his street crime with the insane maniacs... Superman's got his alien menaces... Wonder Woman really should be fighting living statues, multi-headed monstrosities, and insane evil gods. Gorillas are good, too.

The most important thing is that we see a lot of fun action infused with a little bit of wit. Something that's been missing from Wonder Woman for far to long. There's no better person for that than Gail Simone.

And she'd better get that invisible jet...

There are many days when I don't know what to post on here. Tonight was one of those, so I did what I usually do when Doctor Polaris and Azrael aren't around: I started skimming other blogs.

And when that fails, I can usually find something on Newsarama that strikes my fancy. And boy, did I ever. I headed over to Newsarama's blog and what did I find but this little article about New Frontier. Including its voice cast.

There are some good names on there. But none made the eyes bulge out of my head like the person doing Wonder Woman. That's right, friends. Lucy Lawless -- Xena herself -- will be voicing Wonder Woman.

It should come as no surprise to anyone with even a passing understanding of how my geek-addled brain works that I love Xena: Warrior Princess. It has everything that anyone could ever want in a television program. I defy anyone to prove differently. I dare ya.

And most of what made Xena great was Xena herself. And what made Xena great was Lucy Lawless. I always thought she would make a great Wonder Woman. Now I'll get the chance to see if I'm right.