I've started at least four entries this week that I never finished -- on Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez's covers for 2002's Batgirl: Year One, and Eisner Hall of Fame nominee Jim Steranko, among them -- because of deadlines and other real-life concerns.

Still, I want to make at least a brief post about Kazu Kibuishi's cover for Flight 3. Really, there's not much to say, other than as with the previous volumes, this cover captures the sense of wonder and possibilities that seems to tie together the anthology's stories. The idea of a city in the trees isn't a new one; we've seen it everywhere from Flash Gordon to Return of the Jedi to The Monchichis. However, it's not the huts and bridges that draw our attention as much as it is the enormous trees, gracefully twisting like dancing dryads (I've been reading The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, so cut me some slack). The obvious focus, though, is the rotting trunk that's been converted into a quirky house, its jumbled window boxes like the crowded roofs and balconies of some ancient Persian street.

I love, too, that Kibuishi chooses to toss robotic gardeners into this sylvan scene, symbols of futuristic industrialization living in -- and caring for -- an otherworldly Eden.

Plus, you really can't go wrong with a saddle on an enormous bird.

Flight 3 is in this month's Previews for June release. You can see some interior previews at the Flight blog.