"Mary Worth," the comic strip your grandma used to love, suddenly is red-hot.

Is it because an extreme makeover took away her wrinkles and the junk in her trunk, turning a frumpy widow into a saucy senior?

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Mary Worth has lost her wrinkles (above) and gained a trim new body (below) — and a new suitor, Captain Kangaroo look-alike Aldo Kelrast. The comic strip's writer promises more surprises.

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Worth has morphed from this...

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...to this

SOMETHING ABOUT MARY Born: "About 60 years ago" in Jennings, Ohio. Career: Graduate of Dennison University, she was a teacher before she retired. Married: To John "Jack" Worth, a Wall Street wizard who left Mary a portfolio that provides her with a comfortable but not generous income. Residence: Previously in New York City, Mary now lives at the Charterstone Condominium in Santa Royale, Calif., where she offers advice and sympathy to neighbors. Significant other: Dr. Jefferson "Jeff" Cory, the recently widowed former chief of staff at a hospital where Mary does volunteer work. He's now on a medical mission to Cambodia. Closest friends: Victoria "Toby" Cameron, an artist specializing in miniatures, who frequently finds time to chat with Mary. She's the young, second wife of Ian Cameron, an English professor and self-professed "resident expert on everything." Pursued by: Aldo Kelrast, who's subletting a friend's condo and ignoring Mary's protests that she's not interested in him. Neighbors gossip that he might have been involved in his first wife's death. (And note: "kelrast" is an anagram for "stalker.") Fan sites: Mary's daily exploits are frequently discussed on comicscurmudgeon.com and groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.strips. • Also see the fan video "Aldo Stalks Mary Worth" on YouTube.com, and hear the song "Aldo Loves Mary" at www.geocities.com/aldokelrast. — Source: King Features Syndicate

Or is it the holy-cow story line, which has her being hounded by a Captain Kangaroo look-alike who may have offed his wife?

"Mary Worth," the original desperate housewife, is the subject of gossip in The Vent. Thousands of people on the Internet are analyzing and debating her every move — something unheard of for a comic from the dinosaur age.

The story lines have sizzled with suspense since early July, when a bizarre character was introduced. Aldo Kelrast, who bears a striking resemblance to the late TV host Captain Kangaroo, wants Mary. Bad.

At first, Mary was in denial. She thought it was "flattering" that Aldo wanted to hook up, even while the gossip-mongering chatterboxes at Charterstone Condominium complex in Santa Royale, Calif., where Mary lives, had all but branded Aldo a psycho wife-killer stalker guy.

Will Aldo snap? Will Mary be harmed? Will her lover return from his mission of mercy in Cambodia to save the day?

Readers will get answers soon. The writer of the comic strip promises that within the next 60 days, the mystery will end with a dramatic wallop, followed by another huge surprise — perhaps a secret lover from Mary's past.

"Major things are happening," says Karen Moy, the young New Yorker who took over the strip two years ago when longtime author John Saunders, son of the strip's creator, died. "I don't know if it will delight fans. I think it will hold their interest."

First face-lift vetoed

This isn't the first time Mary has caused a stir. Fourteen years ago, after Joe Giella assumed drawing duties from another artist who had died, he abruptly took away the wrinkles from the plump widow's face. He says he was told to do so by executives who wanted to modernize the strip. Readers had a snit-fit.

"Did Mary Have a Nip and Tuck?" screamed a headline in the Los Angeles Times.

"I called Joe, and I said, 'When did Mary Worth have a face-lift? I don't recall writing that into the story,'" Saunders told the L.A. Times at the time. Giella quickly made Mary look old again.

This time, Mary's transformation is permanent. Giella, a legend in the comic book business who has drawn Superman, Batman and Flash Gordon, took 12 weeks to wipe away her wrinkles, eliminate her bun, streamline her body and add some curves. When he was finished, holy makeover, Batman!

Mary — wrinkled, overweight, with a dowager's hump, who had been "in her 60s" for 68 years — was transformed into a hot tamale.

It was all part of a plan to have Mary fall in love. Dr. Jeff Cory, a widower who just happens to work at the hospital where Mary volunteers, became her stud muffin.

For once, it's all about Mary

The story line involving Mary and Aldo is the real shocker — the most radical shift in the comic strip's history. For 68 years, "Mary Worth" has been a plodding soap opera about the quirky people in Mary's life and her take on their troubles: what to do about Tommy's dope problem, Rita's boozing and Dawn's romance with a liar in need of therapy? Mary was always there with her straight-shooter advice and a slice of her special apple cake.

But since Aldo, Mary's life has moved front and center. Now, it's all about Mary.

In a way, the change was forced on the comic strip by Saunders' death. He, and his father, Allen, had been putting words in Mary's mouth since the strip debuted in 1938 as "Mary Worth's Family." Moy, an employee at King Features, which distributes the strip to 350 newspapers worldwide, replaced Saunders and quickly goosed the frigid story lines to add a little spice.

First, drunken buddy Rita crashed at Mary's, then trashed the place, smashing a treasured swan that had been given her hostess by her late husband, John "Jack" Worth, a Wall Street wizard who left Mary a "sensible" portfolio.

But what has fans all agog is Mary's twisted love triangle involving Dr. Cory and Aldo.

After enduring Aldo's sweet talk for weeks, Mary finally turned cold: "Aldo, I'm spoken for! Jeff may be away, but he's always in my heart!"

Why does Aldo look like a clone of Captain Kangaroo, the affable character played by Bob Keeshan who hosted a popular 1955-'91 TV show for kids? Because that's how writer Moy wanted him drawn.

"She said, 'I see something like Captain Kangaroo,'" Giella says. "I said, 'No problem.'"

The look "contrasts with his character flaws," Moy says. "Captain Kangaroo is benign and congenial, yet this character has real flaws. People can relate to that."

Mary's basic character hasn't changed. She still gives her trademark advice, such as her recent suggestion to a female friend that she meet with an old flame — but "not as a romantic pursuit."

But with her face-lift and the new story line, it's Mary that the readers are talking about.

Mark Schwed writes for The Palm Beach [Fla.] Post.