MINI celebrates 80 years of The Flash with a custom EV

Fans of DC comics will recognize the name The Flash. He's a superhero celebrating his 80th birthday. To celebrate the birthday of the iconic superhero, a MINI Electric was used as the canvas by an Italian cartoonist named Carmine Di Giandomenico for the Lucca Changes 2020 international comics fair that took place in Tuscany. Giandomenico painted directly on the body of the bright red Mini Electric for the special car.

Giandomenico is familiar with The Flash after creating more than 34 issues of "The Flash" by Carmine di Giandomenico. The comic is known for remaining loyal to the original character. The Flash made his first appearance in the US in 1940 in the Flash Comics issue.

The electric vehicle has two iterations of The Flash on its body. On the driver side is an older iteration when The Flash was an alter ego of Jay Garrick, who accidentally inhaled heavy water vapor to become the fastest man in the world. In that early version of the character, he wore a red, blue, and yellow costume with boots on his feet and a winged helmet to remind of Mercury.

On the passenger side is the later version of The Flash as the alter ego of Barry Allen. This version of the character resulted from being hit by lightning while testing chemicals. His costume is red with yellow, and he wears a mask rather than a helmet. Giandomenico's artwork on the EV is a reinterpretation of a historical issue 123 cover was drawn by Carmine Infantino.

That comic was a merger of the classic version of The Flash and the modern version. The background is Central City, where The Flash fights crime in movies and TV series modern fans are familiar with. The artwork on the EV was completed in only 10 hours using a mixed technique.