At the 37th annual GLAAD Media Awards, honoring the year’s best LGBTQ+ representation, Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices won in the category of Outstanding Comic Book. The digital series, which ran on Marvel Unlimited for 60 chapters from 2024 to 2025, followed Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, Red Goblin, Bloodline, Aaron Fischer, Escapade, and Kid Juggernaut (many of whom are LGBTQ), as they trained to become the next generation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes under Captain Marvel.
GLAAD recognized every creator who worked on the series in the past year, namely writer Anthony Oliveira; guest writer Elsa Sjunneson; artists Carola Borelli, Bailie Rosenlund, Pablo Collar, Charles Stewart III, Alti Firmansyah, and Minkyu Jung; colorists KJ Díaz, Ruth Redmond, and Dono Sánchez-Almara; and letterers Ariana Maher and Joe Caramagna.
In a letter posted to Bluesky, Oliveira responded, “I am so thankful for the gift of this recognition on behalf of myself and all of the crew on Avengers Academy. We strove week after week to make art worthy of our community – to deepen and enrich the world for queer, trans, and HIV+ representation and readership, to insist we belonged in these worlds of fiction and in the world that dreams them. We wanted both to illuminate queer stories told long ago and to trailblaze new paths forward. It was not always easy, but it was always worth it. I am so proud of this work, and so honoured to have it so celebrated. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, the Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel went to Mike Curato’s Gaysians. The book, published by Algonquin, follows a young gay Asian man, who befriends three other “gaysians” after moving to Seattle during the early 2000s. The awards marked Curato’s first GLAAD nomination, and the third win for Oliveira, who previously received the award for Young Men in Love, and Marvel’s Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling.
Winners in other categories this year included Heated Rivalry, which won Outstanding New TV Series; Stranger Things, which was named Outstanding Drama Series; and Mae Martin’s Wayward, which won Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. In the film categories, Kiss of the Spider Woman won for Outstanding Wide Theatrical Release; Limited Theatrical Release was a tie between A Nice Indian Boy and Plainclothes; and the Streaming or TV Award went to Netflix’s Queen of Coal (starring Lux Pascal.)
Come See Me in the Good Light won Outstanding Documentary; Outstanding Video Game went to Lost Records: Bloom & Rage; and Disney Jr.’s Firebuds won Outstanding Children’s Programming. Netflix’s XO, Kitty received Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Live Action, and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake won in the equivalent category for animated TV.
Congratulations to all the winners! For the full list, head to Variety, and for all the nominees, click on over here.
