The Humanization of Batman Masking is the ability to take on the perspective of a character and enter a sensually stimulating world; a technique often used in comic books to portray a story that can only be perceived by one sense and yet must create a world through that single sense. A major way to draw the reader in is through the humanizing of the characters, especially the protagonist. In Batman: A Long Halloween, the protagonist is Batman, a dark hero who is serving to avenge his parents deaths by ridding the city of Gotham of all evil. The first way the author, Jeph Loeb, creates masking is to give his hero a dead parent background. As discussed in class, this is one of the most overused backgrounds and way to create a relationship with the reader, yet it is effective. After establishing the basic layer of a relationship with the reader, Loeb goes on to show what used to be a “normal person” is now a dark hero of his city hell bent on keeping his promise to his deceased parents that he “would rid the city of the evil that took their lives no matter what that evil looks like or becomes”. While most readers probably have not lost our parents tragically like Batman did, we can easily be sympathetic to how he must feel. To lose one parents can make a person feel alone and therefore when we see Batman’s two friends, Dent and Gordon, we can take peace in the fact that he has someone to count on. Throughout this miniseries, there is a personal narration by Batman in blue boxes throughout the story. These glimpses into his story let the reader personally relate to the human thoughts that he has. He no longer has a realistic human physique, but we know that he is human and letting the reader have a glimpse of that humanity allows us to connect with the character. Batman is an emotionally challenged dark hero and by using masking to encompass that aspect of him, Loeb is able to create an enticing story about an unlikely hero in Gotham. By using personal narration and a human tragedy background, he has made him a relatable character. Throughout the story, Batman relies on his friends (or friends for the time being) to help him rid the city of evil and prevail over it. Not knowing the Batman series would not hinder you from picking up this comic book and feeling left out. The author was able to create enough background without repeating and an enticing storyline that can pull a reader in even if you are new to the series. In my eyes, that is a good author, one that can successfully create a sensually stimulating world for the reader and Jeph Loeb did just that.