Rat Queens, the Image Comics fantasy adventure by writer Kurtis J. Wiebe and artist Roc Upchurch (now Stjepan Šejić), has won the the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book. Presented Saturday in Los Angeles, the awards honor outstanding portrayals of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

The Eisner-nominated series, described by Wiebe as "Lord of the Rings meets Bridesmaids," includes among its raucous cast a lesbian Halfling named Betty. This is the first time Rat Queens has won a GLAAD Media Award.

The series faced stiff competition from a diverse field of nominees: Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Javier Pulido, Annie Wu, et al (Marvel); Lumberjanes, by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Booke Allen and Shannon Waters (BOOM! Studios); Memetic, by James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan (BOOM! Studios); and Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics).

As we noted in January, this year marked the first time since the comic book category debuted in 2003 that a title published by DC or one of its imprints wasn't nominated.