Masking (comics)

"[5] Masking, in particular the placement of iconic characters in realistically detailed backgrounds, is featured prominently in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin comics.

The "clear-line" style of Hergé, which blends abstractions with realism, encourages readers to mask themselves as the oblique Tintin while traversing through the detailed environments featured in each panel.

[11] Hunt gives the example of a Congolese reader who may find it difficult to mask themselves as Tintin, a character explicitly stated to be from Belgium, the Congo's historical colonizer.

The titular protagonist Saitama is usually drawn in a simplistic manner with an iconic face,[14] while the series' other characters often have intricate costume or facial designs.

[17] Saitama is intentionally drawn with minimal detail; shading is present but not as pronounced around the creases of his costume as it is around the outlines of Vaccine Man's muscular body.

[18] For example, Australian political cartoonist Sam Wallman similarly regards the simple, minimal features of characters in children's books as making them "vessels" that the reader can more easily project themselves onto.

[19] However, critics of McCloud have questioned the universality of masking as a concept, arguing that "simplicity" is subjective and the parameters surrounding what is simple and what is complex vary between cultures.

American cartoonist Scott McCloud argues that readers are more likely to identify with a simply-drawn "iconic" character than with a realistic-looking one.
Hergé's "clear-line" style juxtaposes simply-drawn characters with realistically detailed backgrounds. [ a ]
The protagonist Saitama (right) is drawn more simply than the antagonist Vaccine Man (left). [ b ]