On August 14th, I’m re-launching www.femme-noir.com, where Joe Staton and I will be re-presenting classic Femme Noir comics and archiving all the pin-ups, fan art and character sketches that have been created over the last 10+ years since we debuted our fishnet-clad heroine online. We will also be using the site to keep fans informed on the progress of a new Femme Noir graphic novel, which we’re shooting to get out next year.

All four issues of the 2009 “Dark City Diaries” miniseries, as well as previously-published short stories & online strips, will be serialized – for FREE – online, a page a week. If you already have these comics in your collection, the online versions will be supplemented with new bonus material (samples of Joe’s pencils, my original script pages, commentary, etc.). The site will also function as a “Production Log” for the new graphic novel – and any other future Femme Noir projects/products.

It is our hope that new readers will enjoy the stories as serialized, but, of course, the print versions will also be available for purchase from publisher Ape Entertainment (as long as supplies last!) for the impatient. We also hope that folks who already have these stories will enjoy the bonuses and project updates. Along with the reruns, we’ll be occasionally previewing work-in-progress art from the forthcoming graphic novel, “Cold, Dead Fingers,” and have other surprises in the works, as well.

Now… about that “Cold, Dead Fingers: The Graphic Novel.” This will be a completely re-written and re-drawn, extended version of the very first Femme Noir online comics continuity, which appeared way back in 2000-2001. The basic plot remains the same, but it will be considerably expanded-upon, with additional characters, subplots, and action beats.

Femme Noir co-creator Joe Staton will, as always, pencil the book, and my frequent collaborator, Gravedigger artist Rick Burchett, has volunteered to ink it. Rick got his professional start inking Joe on E-Man at First Comics in the 1980s, and they make a formidable artistic team. Colors will be provided by the talented Matt Webb, who previously colored a couple issues of “The Dark City Diaries” miniseries. We’re starting production on “Cold, Dead Fingers” this month, and hope to have it completed and released sometime in 2014.

Anyway – I know some folks will be disappointed that this announcement is mostly about re-presenting the existing Femme Noir stories online, but it is our hope that we’ll be able to provide enough new content to keep our old fans interested and involved, while using the serialized web versions to attract new readers. So that’s the news: classic Femme Noir serialized online for free, lots of bonus material (new and old), and a new graphic novel gearing up.

We hope you’ll check out femme-noir.com in a couple of weeks and make it a regular part of your online reading habit.