There are countless possibilites, you can go with something elaborate like have them morph in using some 3D special effects or go with something simple like alpha fade in.
Just play around and experiment. =) What you have so far isn’t bad, I would make it a lil bit faster though.
I like the current speed. I also like the current effect. Maybe you could try this. Split up your image into a bunch of tall slim strips, and have each strip fade in and scale up and then down to 100%. Offset each strip by a couple of frames or so. Make sense? Would take a bunch of layers though. Just a thought. Good luck.