The problem with "comprise" comes when it's used in the passive sense, "...is comprised of...". There's no way you can leave out the "of" in that case. I just think it's awful and ungrammatical, and there are several good alternatives, "composed of," "consists of", "includes," "made up of..." The "of" is already contained in "comprises" so an extra "of" is both ignorant and ugly. When someone shuns the plethora of good alternatives and decides to write "comprised of" they think they're being clever in using a clever word, when the very opposite is the case.

Some dictionaries do point out how some usages are considered to be inadvisable, but dictionaries don't judge. "Comprised of" has been used for a couple of hundred years and it's so common that it has to be regarded as standard English. That doesn't mean that the more erudite among us have to like it or even reluctantly approve of it. A bit like "albeit" really. Have I ever mentioned that one?