Jonathan Rosenberg (1) (1973–)

One of the things that’s gotten tossed around a lot in the last few years is the question of when webcomics are going to get the same type of respect and awards that newspaper comic strips do. After all there are quite a few webcomics with readerships in the millions, such as The Oatmeal. And in the last year or two the National Cartoonist Society (the Einser and Harvey awards as well) have started to recognize that webcomics are in the same boat as newspaper comics and this year for the first time ever they gave out an award to the best online comic strip. And the winner is…Scenes From a Multiverse? I’m sure some of you are wondering what the heck this comic is as it isn’t as well known as the other two nominees (The Oatmeal and Penny Arcade), but don’t let that fool you. This strip is creative, well written and funny on a daily basis. It offers a rather unique look at the world and it’s one of my favorite comics to see pop up in my RSS feed.

The premise of Scenes From A Multiverse is relatively unique amongst webcomics, in part because Jonathan doesn’t depend upon recurring characters (although sometimes they do come back.) Instead Jonathan focuses on creating a comic with unique characters that can be enjoyed no matter the plot/story that he’s telling in that day’s strip. And while this might seem like it would hinder readers because they don’t have someone familiar to grasp onto, but instead I think it creates a more dynamic strip because we don’t know what’s coming each day. We get something new to look forward to, much like Gary Larson’s Far Side. In addition I imagine this creates more interest for Jonathan as he can go between different world and different characters to touch upon aspects of the news that might catch his eye or just something else that struck his fancy, such as the strip to the left. Which means that he doesn’t get stagnant drawing the same characters for the same story day after day, instead it’s a new world that he gets to play in.

One of my favorite aspects of this strip is that Jonathan always takes a reader poll towards the end of the week to see which story he’ll continue in a second (sometimes third or fourth) comic strip, which is the only time that we see recurring characters. For me, this type of interaction really helps me get into the strip and helps keep my interest in what’s going on. I get to have a say in which storyline will continue which is rather unique in the comics world as far as I know of. And yes I know of strips that do Facebook votes on things, but those tend to take a longer time to come to play and this has an immediate impact (and you can see how the vote is going.) It’s kinda of like the choose your own adventure stories that I read growing up, except that someone else is telling the story and I get to tag along on the ride.

While Jonathan’s artwork is never flash or really has an particular strip that stands out as “oh my gosh this blew me away,” he’s always produces consistently well drawn characters and worlds that grab the eyes of the reader. The characters all have the similar type of feel and the color choices are always well done. It’s a bit weird to say, but I find the style comforting and familiar perhaps in part because it reminds me a bit of Gary Larson’s Far Side comic from so long ago.

This is a highly enjoyable webcomic and well deserved the award. If you like a comic that changes on a daily basis, has creatively written stories, and bunnies then this is the comic for you. I look forward to reading more of it in the years to come.… (mere)