Vancouver, Canada-based Nerd Corps Entertainment’s new action-adventure animated series Storm Hawks went on air and online this week. The series is now part of Cartoon Network US’s summer programming lineup and will air Mondays at 7 p.m. At the same time, Nerd Corps has launched www.stormhawks.com with the help of online media company Bitcaster.

The site is rolling out in three stages, starting with the basics such as show info and games and then adding social networking tools, downloadable ring tones and the ability to create online avatars to play games and redeem crystal points, which will be redeemable for real world merch. The third and biggest stage, launching later this year, involves the creation of a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), where players will race against, trade with and talk to their peers through a 3-D interface that mirrors the on-air world of Storm Hawks.