By Sam Rubenstein

Fri-day! The perfect time to publicly unleash the latest cover. It’s the tenth anniversary of SLAM presents KICKS magazine, your sneaker bible. Here it is:

We’ll have more about the issue next week, extras from the writers and whatnot, specifically Russ Bengtson on his Jordan(s) cover story. The issue officially hits newsstands August 21st. This is your early sneak peak, and a chance to tell our hardworking creative staff what you think about the cover.

Feature stories in this issue include:

COMMUNITY FABRIC: Touting his affordable sneakers with the energy of a campaigning politician, STEPHON MARBURY is spreading the gospel of Starbury.

TOUCH THE SKY: Heading into the fourth season of his NBA career, DWIGHT HOWARD has yet to miss a game and is already an All-Star. Can he become a star of the shoe game as well?

THE (SNEAKER) FREAKS COME OUT AT NIGHT: Who would CAMP OUT overnight to buy a pair of sneakers? Let’s just say our writer is not the only crazy one.

BY DESIGN: Young, gifted and definitely not wack, five top SHOE DESIGNERS explain how they broke into their dream profession.

and of course, FRESH AIR: There was a time when no one knew if Michael Jordan – or his signature AIR JORDANS – would be commercially viable. Revisit how everything played out.

That’s just the features. There is so much more.

And since this is a T.C.B. post, don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter towards the bottom on the right side of the homepage if you haven’t already, because a new one will be going out later today.

And a reminder about SLAM’s myspace page.

Alright, tell us what you think of the new cover.