Who is Maxine, the comic character?

Maxine is a character created by John Wagner, originally appearing on Shoebox Hallmark greetings cards as far back as 1986. The name was picked based on a contest within the Hallmark company.

Maxine's popularity is unheard of in the greeting card industry. Maxine was the first greeting card character to get her own comic strip, calendars, books and website. John Wagner claims that the character is an amalgam of his own mother, his aunts and the grandmother that encouraged his artistic ability at a very young age. As of 2015, Maxine's line of greeting cards have sold more than 220 million cards to American since her inception.