Cinder & Ashe

by Gerry Conway, José Luis García-López (Illustrations)

Cinder & Ashe are a team of private investigators hired to find a kidnapped girl--but as they travel across the U.S. on her trail, their own traumatic pasts come back to haunt them. Ashe is a veteran of the Vietnam war, while Cinder is the daughter of another U.S. soldier and a native Vietnamese woman. This series was written by veteran comics and TV writer Gerry Conway, whose credits include The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers and the Justice League of America, as well as the TV series Batman: The Animated Series and Law & Order.

Collects CINDER & ASHE #1-4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Dc Comics, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Gerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) wass an American writer of comic books and television shows. He was known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he was known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

On April 27, 2026, Marvel Comics announced on its website and social media accounts that Conway had died at the age of 73.

News of Conway's death from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miniserie en la línea de policiales televisivos de su época, donde Cinder y Ashe representan la clásica pareja "unida por sus diferencias" tras la pista de un misterio que enlaza con su pasado. Conocedor de su oficio, el guionista Gerry Conway propone una fórmula efectiva que desarrolla el acertado trazo de José Luis García López, configurando así una propuesta de acción liviana, pero bien contada, que pudo dar para continuaciones.

[Riccardo Caputi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If all you want from a comic is an entertaining plot and great drawings, then you will probably enjoy this one way more than me. If you are also looking for interesting characters, exploration of themes and originality, I think you can find something better.

Oh, and WARNING: there are, like, a bunch of rapes in here.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roza las cuatro estrellitas durante gran parte del relato. Creo que con un final más interesante y/o menos predecible las alcanzaba seguro. Pero tanto guion como dibujo vienen construyendo tan bien a los personajes que cuando al final todo termina en tablas da cierta sensación de decepción. De todos modos, como historia de acción psicológica es muy entretenida, los recursos narrativos son muy interesantes y están excelentemente usados y en conjunto se deja leer con mucho gusto. Después me tengo que poner a to-readear otras obras de los autores, y mejor todavía si están juntos.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bello, molto bello. Una storia decisamente solida, un thriller che si dipana in mezzo a flashback potenti, e che si intersecano col presente dei protagonisti. Conway é uno sceneggiatore coi fiocchi (lo é sempre stato), ed i disegni di José Luis García-López sono una sicurezza, sia che si cimenti con i supereroi che non, come in questo caso. Consigliatissimo a chi ami le storie scritte bene, disegnate anche meglio e che ti inchiodano alla lettura.

[Jota Houses · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para una miniserie de los 80, la historia era original y rompedora. Por desgracia el 90% de los thrillers realizados desde entonces descansa sobre la misma armazón con lo que se ha quedado pobre. Magnifico el dibujo de Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me this is one the classics of the 80s in the shadows of Watchmen and Dark Knight. There is nothing wrong in this one. Dark themes, violence, action, emotions and on the top: Great art. In the "for mature readears" of the 80s, this is good stuff. And it was not prolonged either. Four issues if just perfect length for this story. Nothing more to add, story told.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though some parts were a bit disturbing, the concept was really impressive, and it was very fun to read. I just wish that there had been follow up books, or even a television series.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edición quer reentapa la totalidad de la miniserie homónima. Pese a tratarse de un tomo único, en el lomo se puede leer un #1.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action comic with a solid mystery. Great job flashing back on the relationship between the main characters. I really wish this had been an ongoing series so I could keep reading.

[Anj2099 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Jose Luis Garcia art.

Bought this just for the beautiful artwork.
Story a bonus by comics legend Gerry Conway nostalgia how good this medium of comics was....

[Jeremy Blum · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion this should be right up there with the other seminal "mature readers" works that DC Comics put out in the 80s, like Watchmen, Arkham Asylum and The Dark Knight Returns. It's the story of Cinder and Ashe, two private investigators living in New Orleans who get wrapped up in a case involving a missing daughter, and the whole thing is imbued with the flavor and spice of Louisiana, as exhibited through Gerry Conway's crisp scripting and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's very stylish illustrations. The story flows like a dope 80s action movie (that unfortunately never got a sequel) and this book is also a rare example of an 80s comic showcasing a female of color protagonist - Cinder is a Blasian woman, or more specifically the daughter of an African American soldier and a Vietnamese local, born in the shadows of the Vietnam War.

Much of DC's less famous experimental work from this era has fallen into obscurity, but Cinder and Ashe was recently collected in a nice trade paperback, so there's no excuse not to check this out for comics fans looking for something fresh.

[Brendan Mckillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story by Gerry Conway is satisfactory. A good, solid mystery told with balance of flash backs and action sequences that keep you reading. The book isn’t anything particular new or different, though the two main characters are quite interesting. It’s to bad that more stories about Cinder and Ashe weren’t told. I would love to read more about them.

What elevates this book to 4 stars is the artwork from Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. The man is master of visual storytelling. Ever panel is perfectly rendered. Every character expertly designed.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watchmen brought about a sea change in comics. Out were comics approved by the Comics Code Authority, in were comics intended for mature readers. For better or for worse, Watchmen was the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of comics. Thing never would, and never could, be the same again. Comic books grew up in the mid-80s and veteran creators, free from the shackles of industry-imposed “censorship”, rushed to fill the vacuum with their own 'dark and gritty' adult oriented content.

Gerry Conway is most famous (infamous?) as the guy who killed Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #122 back in 1973, but to base his entire comic career on that one incident is a disservice to his body of work. He wrote a ton of titles for Marvel and DC. Not everything that he touched was gold, but he has done a ton of solid work that is worth a second look. He has written for various television shows over the years but always seems to come back to comics for one reason or another. He is paired here with Jose' Luis Garcia-Lopez, a prolific artist who can draw anything under the sun. He has done nearly every genre and nailed them all. The lure of the pair of them prompted me to pick up this previously unknown (to me) title when this book came out.

Like Conway's most famous creation, The Punisher, Cinder And Ashe's roots lie in the Viet Nam War. Being of draft age while the war was going on had a profound impact on his writing. While it could be dismissed by cynical members of subsequent generations as the musings of Baby Boomer I think that the disillusionment with the way things were served to inform his writing, giving it a wry cynicism.

Cinder And Ashe are private detectives, with Cinder being bi-racial. While people wouldn't bat an eye at that today it was actually quite bold in the late 1980s. Ashe speaks in a Cajun dialect which I find to be distracting and annoying to read. This is a sort of whodunit involving an abduction, with Conway employing timeslips to fill in backstory as you go along. Aside from a few dated aspects (coloring, etc.) this holds up remarkably well even if this wasn't my cup of tea. A worthwhile read.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is the worst Gerry Conway story I've ever read. I like him generally, but this was just awful, uses women's bodies as nothing more than a plot point, and just generally all-around awful.

[Chad Jordahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the drawings, but not the colors. Interesting characters. The story is enjoyable and very 80s. The writing is a bit tryhard in places...

[Candice Macwilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had the whole set. Loved it then. Love it now.

[Grg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like some lost Michael Mann tv pilot from the 80s, for better or worse, but no one draws like Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, a master.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 5 out of 5]

adult all the way art and story !!!!!!!!