In CSS2, it's possible to specify when elements should be rendered in front of other elements just in case they overlap. Below is an example using only text and CSS, with no graphics:
This is layer one.
This is layer two.
This is layer three.
p.layer1 { z-index: 30; position: absolute; top: 100px; left: 100px; font-size: 72px; line-height: 1em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: white; background-color: transparent;}