Ride or Die.
Chariot is a 2021 comic book published by AWA Studios, written by Bryan Edward Hill and illustrated by Priscilla Petraites and Marco Lesko. It's described as a "synthwave thriller."
The Chariot was a Cold War-era secret government project to provide its star agent with a weapon unlike any other in the form of a supercharged muscle car. It sank into the ocean decades ago, and the agent along with it.
Now, Jim, a petty criminal looking to make money to pay for his son's kidney treatments, finds the Chariot in a junkyard and attempts to restart it. When he's confronted by the gang boss whom he owes money to, he quickly finds, however, that the car has a mind of its own...specifically, the same mind that died within it years ago.
Tropes in Chariot:
- Amicable Exes: Jim and his ex-wife seem to get along pretty good, although she is also dating a cop, which makes things awkward since Jim is a petty criminal.
- Brain/Computer Interface: In the second issue, Gillian (who controls the Chariot) injects a device into Jim's head that will allow them to communicate even when he's not near the Chariot.
- Cool Car: The Chariot is a supercharged muscle car. How supercharged? It has forcefields that make it completely invulnerable.
- Destination Defenestration: The second issue ends with Jim thrown out of a thirtieth-floor window by Gillian's sister.
- Femme Fatale Spy: The agent driving the Chariot in the beginning is a young blonde woman wearing a leather mini-skirt.
- Haunted Technology: The Chariot is a super-advanced muscle car that is now apparently controlled by the spirit of the agent who died inside it.
- Hologram: Gilliam, the agent who controlled the Chariot, now only exists as a ghost in the machine. She can manifest as a hologram, but she wants her own body again.
- Join or Die: There's a reason that tagline of the book is "Ride or Die." Gillian (the spirit trapped in the Chariot) tells Jim that she needs him to help her, otherwise she can make his life very difficult.Gillian: Here's the deal. You help me find a body. I help you drop your balls and actually make something of your life. But I will not wind up in some government lab. You will keep me a secret. Or I will destroy what little you have. We clear?
- Littlest Cancer Patient: Jim's son, Ben, has failing kidneys. That's why Jim borrowed money from the local gang boss.
- Logical Weakness: The Chariot is completely invulnerable and can even crash right through other cars. However, the road underneath the car is still vulnerable, so a helicopter took out a chunk of road, forcing the car to dive into the ocean...where it quickly filled with water, drowning its driver.
- Nanomachines: In the second issue, Gillian's sister uses nanomachines to de-age herself so that she can track down the Chariot.
- Shout-Out: Ben, Jim's son, is seen holding onto a Spider-Man stuffed toy in his hospital bed.
- Synthwave: The entire books aesthetic, from the supercharged muscle car, to the color palette, to the pink ghost/hologram.
