Cartoon noir is a stylistic genre that emerged from a combination of traditional comic strip style plus serious crime stories. It uses flat, distinct strokes, black-and-white contrasts, and stark shifts between low-saturated colours. Also characteristic of the genre are gloomy ambiences, dark interiors, and night-time outdoor scenes. Most often cartoon noir is used to tell crime stories or fantasy tales bordering between crime and horror. The typical characters are detectives, heroes, and adventure-seekers who solve mysteries or fight criminals.

The masters of the cartoon noir style are Frank Miller, known for the excellent film adaptations of his comics that retain his extravagant visual style (especially the cult film Sin City) and Mike Mignola, the author of the world-famous Hellboy cycle, already the subject of two film adaptations. Mignola's comics are executed in the style of H. P. Lovecraft's prose. Cartoon noir can also be found on television, such as in Batman, The Animated Series, which won an Emmy award.

The cartoon noir style draws not only upon the American tradition of pulp fiction comics, but also upon higher forms of art, such as German expressionism.