I Am Ten Ninjas

I like this t-shirt, by R. Stevens of the webcomic Diesel Sweeties, and I couldn't help but notice that it plays with figure and ground in a very similar fashion as the Haunted Gettysburg Ghost Tours flyer. In this case, we see a mostly self-contained oblong shape, which under most circumstances we would perceive as figure against the (black) ground. Closer inspection reveals that it's the visible portion of a ninja's face, and once we recognize that, the blackness surrounding it becomes the ninja's cowl, which in turn bleeds off into the blackness of the shirt without any delineation and becomes the ground again. The figure/ground distinction is further confused by the caption, which is printed as unambiguous figure on the black ground, but if we take into account the evident location of the ninja then the text must be printed on, or floating in front of, his face. It is, as they say, a mystery.