Let's talk about something as appealing as women.    Genius.    Since every swimsuit issue has its feminist detractors and its adolescent admirers, it's about time someone stood up for what's not in a bikini. The words. The design. The splendid use of theme.    Anyone who touts quality has to be able to explain it or describe it or define it. The SISI, as I like to call it, generally let's me do all three. This is not about "Playboy has good articles, too." This is about what works and why.    The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, far from something which should be criticized as cheese, may best be seen as the Super Bowl of publishing. And year in, year out, this issue delivers.    So stop what you're doing right now and go pull out that dog-eared copy of last year's issue and come right back and start going through this thing with me page by page. If nothing else, at that point you'll understand my choice of graphics.    ***    Consider, for a moment, how the '98 edition opens with the fold-out Nigel Holmes graphic. Consider how it ties so many themes together, the equator, the women, the attitude ("Buddy can you spare a few Pestovas?").    What's even more remarkable is that the interesting facts and issue-related information will keep you at the page longer than Daniela Pestova, or, at least a picture of her. That's a high compliment for something as simple as data or information.    These quality-packed informational style runs throughout this issue. In terms of writing, two articles in particular -- by Jamie Malanowski and Frank Lidz -- are superb. The "you could look it up" factoids solidly follow the style of Esquire's Dubious Distinction awards right down to the witty, second-bounce headlines. Even some of the smaller columns contain absolute gems: "She could sell skin cream to a skeleton."    It's tough for the ads to keep up, but considering the analogy of this issue being the Super Bowl of publishing, the ads are worth a quick rating as well. Big hits, real winners, from '98 include Sauza Tequila, Valvoline, Caesar's Palace (fortunately or unfortunately next to the worst shoot of the entire issue), Camel, Nokia and Jansport, which gets an extra thumbs up for using a real athlete in the ad.    But before this slips into yet another review, let's remind ourselves of what brought us here -- SISI as an illustration of quality.    As we all know, a great idea is nothing if it can't be executed. The SISI meets the high-concept, high-execution standard, and for an example, look at how they handled the equator's most famous export, El Nino. The turned it into a photo shoot of female TV forecasters.    Consider on just how many levels this is a great idea. They get to bring the exotic close to home. They get to mention women "who provide information that actually affects your life." They get to photograph women of substance, women of achievement, women of brains. And they get to shoot them with their clothes on. Absolutely brilliant and major style points for whomever came up with the idea.    Now if I could only figure out why they called them weathergirls. ***    People sometime forget why you shoot swimsuit models on remote beaches in exotic places in the first place.    Pesky things like color, sky and light. As if tackling that wasn't enough, the truly great photographers must also master texture and movement, composition and emotion. Sometimes they even have to do all this while working underwater.    Great photographers have powerful bookends, the stylist before the shoot and the editor after. The editor has the luxury of deciding which is simply a great picture and which is a picture of a simply great model.    And here's the kicker. After you've accomplished all those feats of artistry, logistics and technical precision you have to put the emphasis on the suit. That's the essence of fashion photography -- attract attention but move the product.    The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue -- by its little old lonesome self -- illustrates every single point raised so far. The '98 issue is a benchmark for overall editorial quality anywhere.    Here's an example. The Janet Jones foldout, page 136, is literally bound to the backbone of this magazine. This photograph cannot be cut out and hung up, which means that in no way can it be called a pin-up.    It's fantastic work. Incredible styling. The high heels are skates, the hockey stockings are not exactly Victoria's Secret, the tie to her husband the star is obvious and the pig tails are just perfect.    No editor's eye view of the Swimsuit Issue would be complete without a mention of Scavullo, who shot Jones, among others. My vote for best unit shooter would fall to Myers Robertson, from his totally Euro avant-garde opener to the well-composed and gentle Lorraine Pascale on page 172.    Some specifics for those keeping score at home:    For why they shoot on beaches, try the contents page -- the whiteness of the sand, the banded water colors, the ineffable sky. For another Beri Smither example, see page 116. In came a stylist with a banded Mondrian bikini and the result was excellence.    For the age-old argument of beautiful picture or beautiful woman, argue it over Stacey Williams, beginning at page 79 and ending at page 87, which also gets my vote for best suit.    Further specifics. For texture, try Chandra North on page 164. For movement, North, again, on page 171 (which is also a great illustration of the theory of the diagonal in photo cropping). For composition, try another diagonal, Pamela Wright on page 110. And for emotion, try the sweetness of page 31 or the playfulness in the Zero Latitude opening spread    We'll close with two workshop-style observations.    A common complaint in photography in general is that too many pictures are taken from five feet, six inches from the ground. See the power of the killer angle with Stacey Williams on page 91.    Compare and contrast Denny and Jennifer Neagle versus Phil and Amy Mickelson on page 144-145. Jennifer, a real woman with real thighs and real age and, well, she just looks great -- and her husband could not look happier. There's a great sweetness in this picture, in this couple    On the opposite page there's a Brady Bunch twosome apparently made of plastic.    Sometimes a photographer can do his work too well. Return to the February issue of glmarshall.com, the magazine