Image courtesy of Vanity Fair

And so Justin Beiber’s magazine cover sweep begins. We reported that the Biebs would cover Vanity Fair‘s February or March issue and it turns out he nabbed the former. Thankfully, the tween phenomenon didn’t get the Leibovitz Miley treatment for the cover. He’s not naked or sad looking (don’t worry there’s a shot of him with his shirt unbuttoned and abs exposed within). In this pitch-perfect cover shot by Art Strieber a close crop of Bieber’s face is covered in lipstick kisses, his tie is being grabbed by a crazed unknown 13-year-old girl, and the headline “Is this the adorable, inescapable face of 2011?” runs across his torso. Short answer to that question? Probably, yes. But if you ask him he says he’s “just nuts.” “I’m crazy, I’m nuts,” he told the mag, “Just the way my brain works. I’m not normal.”

Normal or not, Bieber’s only 16, and a solo cover of Vanity Fair will up his credibility and introduce him to a readership who doesn’t know him from his countless J-14, Twist and Tiger Beat covers. And even though the Biebs already graced the pages of a fashion glossy when he starred alongside Kim Kardashian for a spread in Elle, his forthcoming Love cover ensures high fashion’s fascination with the baby-faced teen, too.