ZAPPING THE BAD GUYS : LOCAL PAIR CREATES FIERY COMICS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

What if Cinderella were a comic book character without a fairy godmother or a princely suitor, but with the power to incinerate evildoers?

``Cynder,'' the comic book takeoff created by David and Linda Hernandez of Palmdale, is a buxom, scantily clad character with a mane of scarlet hair and the ability to throw fireballs or to cause spontaneous combustion.

``The bad-girl trend is hot,'' said David Hernandez, who as a boy counted among his favorites Conan the Barbarian, Spiderman and the Fantastic Four. ``Cynder is a bad girl who runs around and beats everybody up.''

The boy's passion for comics turned into the man's desire to write for a comic book publisher. But when he sought jobs at a comic book publishers' convention in San Diego in 1994, he was rebuffed at every turn. So he decided to produce his own comic book.

Hernandez, who works as a real estate agent's assistant, dreams up the plot and writes the comic script. His wife, a portrait painter and calligrapher, creates the painted covers.

The first ``Cynder'' comic debuted in April 1995, and 25,000 copies were sold. The Hernandezes have produced five more. Other people do the inside artwork and have arcane titles such as penciler, inker, letterer and colorist.

As in the Cinderella story, Cynder's human alter ego, Cyndi Montgomery, was abused as a child at the hands of a cruel stepmother, who killed Cynder's father by poisoning him.

One day, Cynder's hidden powers appear, leading to the demise of the evil stepmother. From then on, her mission is to protect the innocent, although sometimes she gets carried away with her extreme sense of justice, David Hernandez said.

When he reels off a complex plot line involving cryogenic suspension, computer networks, virtual reality, radio frequencies and Aladdin's genie, Linda says: ``He just does it. It just spews out.''

For an independent comic book, ``Cynder'' does well, the Hernandezes say. One comic distributor agrees.

``It's safe to say every time they sell a book, it ranks in the top 200 for that month,'' said Glen Folland, brand manager for Maryland-based DiamoComic Distributors Inc. ``There's generally about 600 books listed per month. I guess percentile-wise, it's not bad. They aren't doing too bad.''

Folland added: ``Linda Hernandez's covers are stunning. It's good quality. Most comic book covers are not painted. It gives `Cynder' a nice flair.''

``Cynder'' sells at local comic book stores on the appeal of its artwork, storyline and the fact that the creators are local, store owners say.

``It does OK, probably because it's a local guy, and a lot of people know that,'' said Rob Stephens, owner of Bases Cards and Comics in Lancaster. ``He has had crossovers with other popular characters where they get together with a common story.''

``It's pretty good,'' said Jason Brodock, manager at Warp 9, a comic store in Palmdale. ``It has very good artwork and a decent story, which is something that most comic books don't have nowadays. And Linda does good covers.''

The latest crossover, set to debut in November, is an issue where ``Cynder'' will join forces with a Lightning Comics character.

People who buy independent comic books are his target audience, David Hernandez said. They are mainly males 18 to 40, but the comic also attracts female readers, David said.

To broaden readership, the Hernandezes plan to change Cynder's skimpy outfit.

``The scanty clothes were misleading. It gave people the wrong idea,'' Linda said.

The couple, both 32, have four children: Steven, 11; Scott, 9; Brittany, 6, and Brandon, 4. Sometimes they suggest adversaries for Cynder to battle.

``It's cool,'' said Steven. ``Cynder's like a superhero, and I like superheroes.''

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Photo: (color in AV only) Linda and David Hernandez of Palm dale show editions of their comic book, ``Cynder.'' She creates the covers. He writes the scripts.

Karen Maeshiro/Daily News