Masking (comics)

Masking (or the masking effect) is a visual style used in comics, first described by American cartoonist Scott McCloud in his book Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. McCloud argues that characters with simple but recognizable designs, which he terms "iconic" characters, allow readers to project themselves into the story by using the characters as a "mask". He further argues that the juxtaposition of iconic characters with detailed backgrounds, characters, or objects can create meaning and strengthen or weaken readers' emotional and psychological connection to certain elements of the graphic narrative. Masking can be found in various media outside of comics, such as animation, picture books and video games (especially visual novels). Masking is commonly used in manga and anime; McCloud states that masking "was, for a time, virtually a national style" in Japan. McCloud identifies three types of masking: Iconic characters placed in realistically detailed backgrounds Iconic characters juxtaposed alongside realistically detailed characters Simply-drawn objects which are suddenly shown in realistic detail McCloud proposes that readers can use iconic characters as a "mask" to enter the detailed worlds of graphic narratives. He argues that readers often look towards facial features - in particular the eyes and mouth - for indications of emotion, and the absence of such details in the simply-drawn faces of iconic characters create room for readers to project their own emotions onto. The placement of an iconic character in a realistically detailed background amplifies this reader-to-text connection, as it emphasizes the otherness of the setting and the status of the character as an "empty canvas". Characters may be drawn simplistically or in great detail to encourage identification or objectification by the reader. In shōnen (boy's) manga and anime, an antagonist may be depicted in a realistic style to convey the character's otherness from a simply-drawn protagonist.