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Review: Dan Olson and AJ Niehaus's Super Maxi-Pad Girl, issues 1 & 2
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The cover of issue one.
Normally, my near-total lack of knowledge about feminine hygiene products is not much of a barrier to reading and reviewing comics. However, it does present a bit of a challenge in the case of Super Maxi-Pad Girl, by Dan Olson and A.J. Niehaus, the first two issues of which I picked up at FallCon. Our eponymous (thanks for the word-a-day calendar, Mom!) heroine is a smiling, animate maxi-pad with baby blue eyes and a stylish red cape. She fights—what else?—the diabolical machinations of the evil Period, who plots to make blood flow through the streets.
It’s right up there with the best comic book premises; all it needs is some kind of tragic origin story to be perfect. (Maybe Super Maxi-Pad Girl’s parents were killed by a rampaging uterus?) In fact, the comic as a whole is an homage to the great superhero comics of old: there’s multiple short stories in each issue, ridiculous Silver Age plot devices like time machines and conveniently timed betrayals, and, starting with the second issue, a letter column, answered by the Period. There’s even a guest appearance by Thor, the god of Thunder, and his mighty hammer Mjolnir, which is not actually a euphemism.
The art is simple, solid, and about as readable as you can get. I found myself wishing for some color now and then—the covers are in bold color schemes, but the insides are all black and white—but have you seen the cost of printing these days? The writing’s clever without being hokey; it evokes the best superhero comics without falling into cliche.
The first issue came out last year, about this time; the second issue debuted at FallCon. Both are available, along with related merchandise (a Period button! a stuffed Maxi-Pad Girl doll made from a real maxi-pad!) on Olson’s site. Get yourself a copy of this local indie favorite—hilarious even if you don’t have a uterus!
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