On the one hand, a beautiful Tuscan town that hosts one of the largest festivals in Europe dedicated to the comics universe every end of October. On the other, a small Anglo-German town that does not miss an opportunity to show its pop spirit. Mini returns to Lucca Comics for the fourth year running and unveils its third decorated show car (in 2021 it was a mural): this time, the body of a three-door version, previously covered with an opaque white film, has allowed itself to be run through by the brushes of the Artistic Director of Lucca Manga School, Caterina Rocchi.
“On one side appears a young man representing a shy and masculine version of mother nature, on the other a more resolute girl carrying the energy of the city,” explains the cartoonist. The bonnet shows the lines of the side drawings merge into a fusion that refers to the concept of “big love”: “In other words, love for all creatures, regardless of race, sex or physical build, and attachment to healthy values”. Concepts that the cartoon strips, characterised by eternal struggles between good and evil, have always proposed and attended to, at least according to those who conceived the initiative.
A link that is perhaps not entirely obvious? Possibly, but the young and lively character of the eternal Mini remains unquestionable and legitimises the operation. Moreover, it is animated, in Rocchi’s vision, by a double essence associated with Japanese car culture: “The project is to all intents and purposes an Ita-Sha, that is, an elaborate car that generates visual overstimulation, but also, literally, an Italian model”. After all, the tradition of Lucca Comics, whose origins can be traced back to 1966… almost as far back as the Oxford city car (1959), is also deeply rooted in our country! It’s just a pity that the paint with which the two characters are portrayed does not withstand the elements: in everyday use, the “big love” would risk melting away like a fleeting teenage infatuation. One to be remembered with a smile, though.
