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:

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. Meanwhile, in shōjo (girl's) manga and anime, characters may be "minimally differentiated" from each other to encourage reader identification with the entire cast of characters.

Another common practice in manga and anime is that a simply-drawn object, often a prop used by a character, may suddenly be shown in realistic detail to emphasize its status as an object. When a prop is drawn in a simplistic manner similar to the character using it, it can be viewed as an extension of the character. The reader, however, becomes aware of the prop as an object when it is shown in realistic detail, as the reader considers the prop's hypothetical real-world elements, such as its "weight, texture and physical complexity".

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.

Nancy Rose Hunt, an American historian specializing in African studies, questions this interpretation of the clear-line style, arguing that non-white audiences may have trouble identifying with the all-white main cast, especially when non-white characters are portrayed as racist caricatures alongside the protagonists. 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. Said reader may also be unable to mask themselves as one of the many Congolese characters featured in the comics, as the Congolese characters' iconic designs are, in Hunt's view, akin to racist portrayals of black people in minstrel shows.