Each Monday, staff writers Kevin Melrose and Steve Sunu discuss their five favorite covers from the previous Wednesday's new comic releases, selecting from among them CBR's Cover of the Week. Then, at the end of each month, they choose from the weekly winners -- you guessed it! -- a Cover of the Month.

This week, Ali Baba relaxes, Nick Fury ... doesn't, Polaris, Siryn and Wolfsbane hit the road, Nite Owl holds the key, and Jonathan Hickman gives us a hand. Or at least part of a finger.

Keep reading for Kevin and Steve's favorites from the week of June 6, and then discuss your choices in the CBR forums.

"Fairest" #4, by Adam Hughes (Vertigo)

Adam Hughes continues his incredible cover run on "Fairest" with a close-up of Ali Baba among a cavalcade of beautiful women. It's the little things, like the creases in Ali's shirt and the tiny details on the jewelry and sword, that really make this cover sing. Plus, Ali Baba's eyes look like they're staring into your soul -- no small feat for any illustration. -- Steve Sunu

"Fury MAX" #3, by Dave Johnson (Marvel)

While Dave Johnson continues the reverse-silhouette approach from the first two issues, he dials back his palette of red, blue and gold, opting instead for a muddy brown, and reserving punches of color for the star on the soldier's helmet and Nick Fury's eye. That icy blue cuts through the murkiness, transforming the look of terror on Fury's face into something much more haunting. -- Kevin Melrose

"Secret" #2, by Jonathan Hickman (Image)

It's no secret (ha!) that Jonathan Hickman loves simplistically complex covers, and "Secret" #2 is no different. The black and white photograph of a hand with half the pinky finger missing would be iconic in itself, but Hickman shows his graphic design chops off by adding in the silhouette of the remaining portion of the finger in an orange dotted line, resulting in a sense of detachement on a thoroughly unsettling cover. -- Steve Sunu

"X-Factor" #237, by David Yardin (Marvel)

David Yardin's pencils are fantastic, with the unbridled joy apparent on the faces of Siryn and Wolfsbane, but it's the cover's design that really what sets it in a class of its own. The image of the red convertible zipping down the highway over a map of the United States with three close-ups of Polaris, Siryn and Wolfsbane really gives Yardin a chance to explore a number of different storytelling on a single page aspects, and he does so with great aplomb. -- Steve Sunu

COVER OF THE WEEK: "Before Watchmen: Minutemen" #1, by Darwyn Cooke (DC Comics)

Even in the most heated of debates about DC Comics' sprawling prequel to the seminal 1986 miniseries by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, there can generally be found one point of agreement: that Darwyn Cooke's contributions are bound to be pretty good. However, "pretty good" sells this cover short. Like the other comics in the project, it benefits from Gibbons' ageless, and iconic, design that permits the logo to be enormous while (largely) leaving the art uncluttered by type (DC unfortunately was forced to deviate from the original approach because of the bar code, and relatively small "Before Watchmen" strip and creator credit). Even if you're unfamiliar with "Watchmen" and the Minutemen, Cooke's joyful cover art provides all the necessary clues that this comic looks back on the Golden Age: the ticker-tape parade, the absurdly oversized key to the city and a muted color palette that makes the image seem old without actually being faded. -- Kevin Melrose