VIVA IL CICLISSIMO! is a sumptuously delicious, 2 volume illustration collection by Katsuhiro Otomo and Katsuya Terada, without a doubt the who’s who of the manga world. Since neither artist has released any substantial volume of work as of late these book(s) are nothing short of a splendid threat for fans indeed – even if the subject matter is solely centered on professional cycling.
As avid cyclers themselves ( see this older post on Otomo to catch a glimpse of his hardware ), Otomo and Terada followed the Giro d’Italia cycling race ( Tour of Italy, the 2nd biggest and most important race after the Tour de France ) for a month gathering materials and research in preparation for this book. Otakus are a fervent bunch, but that’s perfectly fine with us fans. :]
(above) The illustrations are distributed fairly evenly among the two volumes, with the first ( hardback, book on top ) entailing the Italy trip that Otomo and Terada made, and the 2nd book filled with sketches and whimsical drawings on professional cycling, accompanied by essays.
Illustrations up to this point are all from the first hardback volume. Artwork by Otomo takes up the first half of the book, and the second half by Terada. Illustrations below are all from the 2nd volume.
(above) A somewhat familiar character appears.
(Below) The two volumes housed in a neat plastic jacket and accompanying promo band. Total number of pages 192, featuring more than 280 illustrations.
(above) There’s even a mini over the shoulder bag complete with a Terada illustration thrown in ! ( This is only available with the current limited edition on sale. While stocks last. )
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October 21st, 2008 at 1:44 am
Looks nice !
October 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Wow. Those are amazing illustrations. I wonder how long those took to draw.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
although its not quite my cup of tea, but i enjoy the amount of detail put inside it.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Kahneda – Agreed !
Parka – Neither of them released any work for quite a while, so they must have been working on this book for quite a long time i think.
tragic comedy – Useful reference material I believe. :]
October 29th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Love this sport and illustrations, where can I get one?
October 30th, 2008 at 1:38 am
WOW, great work! Not only art from 2008 Giro d’Italia (I thought they had followed the “carovana” for a few days only) but I also see portraits of the unforgetable Marco Pantani and Mario Cipollini. The complete chronicle of modern cycling full of love for this sport, sweat, hard work (and doping). Hope it’ll be edited in Italy soon!
January 25th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Will this be translasted into English? I’d buy a copy that I could read.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Duane Irate Jones – Haven’t heard any news about that, but it might take a while even if they do get on it I think.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
I’d love to be able to read the commentary as well, but the book would be more than worth it for the gorgeous illustrations alone. Thanks for posting!