Best Covers of 2007

ASME announced 21 finalists in the cover of the year contest, althought these are all spread out over various categories like 'Best Cover/Fashion Cover/Celebrity Cover/Coverline' etc.

Some notes:

• Texas Monthly got props for its Dick Cheney photo illustration, nominated for the tagline “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face”. Now it's a fantastic cover, wonderful example of a well-executed Photoshopped image, and considering the issue is the annual "Bum Steer" Awards, it seems appropriate that they invoke the National Lampoon 'Dog/Gun' cover. I hate to be the one to spoil the party, but they didn't really do much in terms of cover lines, did they? It's a clever take on an old joke, but does it deserve an award? I suppose it depends what the award is honoring-- Amusement? definitely. Originality? not so much.
  
  
• Props to "D magazine" for continuing it's award run for the "Parced" cover. I remember this specific cover when it first came out, and I love to see the smaller city magazines get notice.
  
  
• Vanity Fair was honored for one of the 13 covers they produced for the Africa issue, specifically the one with Ali and Obama. That seems a bit unfair, to not judge that issue based on all 13 covers? I think you have to address them as a whole, especially when the whole point of that issue was to create a 'chain letter' across the world. When you split them up, it takes away from the entire point, doesn't it?
  
  
• Finally, the New Yorker was nominated for "Best Cover", along with Vanity Fair's previously mentioned Africia issue and Esquire's George Clooney "Genius" Cover. It has to be a shoe in, it really is genius and somehow the perfect tribute to the fifth year anniversary of 9/11. What saddens me is that Esquire has been doing such great things this year, I'm sad it has to go up against it. Talk about reinventing cover lines...