Every year, the GLAAD Media Awards aim to celebrate the best of LGBT-inclusive media and the people producing that work. This weekend at a ceremony in Los Angeles, winners for the 2016 awards were announced, with Boom Studios’s acclaimed Lumberjanes taking home the award for Outstanding Comic Book.

Lumberjanes, by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Carolyn Nowak and Brooke Allen, tells the story of five teenage girls at a summer camp who solve mysteries and encounter bizarre creatures. In 2015, the series won the Eisner Awards for Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens, but lost out on the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Comic Book to Rat Queens.

This year, Lumberjanes beat stiff competition from the likes of Steve Orlando and ACO’s Midnighter and Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked And The Divine. Lumberjanes’ inclusion of LGBT themes and representation is especially vital because, as an all-ages comic, it helps young readers to grapple with experiences like having a crush on a same-sex friend, or to come to terms with a non-conforming gender identity.

Out of the three “Big Two” comics among the nominees, two of the series, Midnighter and Angela: Queen of Hel, are already cancelled and awaiting their final issues. Following those cancellations, DC will be left with two LGBT-led solo books (Harley Quinn and The Hellblazer) and Marvel will have none.

The market for LGBT-led comic books has never been greater, and fans are seeking voices that represent their experiences outside of the Big Two, while Marvel and DC leave money on the table. Series like Lumberjanes not only provide well-crafted LGBT representation, but also well-crafted stories.

The full list of nominees was:

  • Angela: Queen of Hel, by Marguerite Bennett, Kim Jacinto, Israel Silva and Stephanie Hans (Marvel)
  • Harley Quinn, by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Chad Hardin, John Timms and Jed Dougherty (DC Comics)
  • Lumberjanes, by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Carolyn Nowak and Brooke Allen (Boom Studios)
  • Midnighter, by Steve Orlando, Aco, Hugh Petrus, Alec Morgan and Stephen Mooney (DC Comics)
  • The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Kate Brown and Tula Lotay (Image Comics)

 

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