California’s Gungnir Publishing—which specializes in sci-fi and fantasy graphic novels and books for kids and teens—is launching an animation studio to develop original IPs and adapt its print titles for YouTube.

Founder Matthew Medney is working towards the ambitious goal of expanding the business into content and “building the Cartoon Network of the digital era” with a YouTube channel called Gungnir Animation Network, according to a release.

The publisher’s catalogue of kids and teen books include sci-fi graphic novels The Stars Within, HiROQUEST and Chupacabra: Tales of Blood & Ink (pictured, written by Medney), which its fledgling animation studio is already developing as a story about a teenager’s quest to solve the mystery of both the monster and her father’s disappearance.

Gungnir animation team. Images courtesy of Gungnir.

Also in the kids/tween pipeline is an animated comedy adaptation of Mutant Cats (written by Medney and Morgan Rosenblum), plus original concepts such as Wild North (an underwater action-thriller from The Umbrella Academy writer Eric Phillips) and They Bleed Black (a story about battling kaijus from Jessica Jones scribe J. Hotham).

Since launching last year, Gungnir has been busy setting up some big deals to build a business. In April, it teamed up with a company called Storyteller Media to adapt its titles for film and TV. It also signed a global distribution agreement in August with Macmillan Publishers, which now sells its books worldwide. And in October, Blumhouse Games signed a deal  to let Gungnir joint-venture Asgard Books turn its video game Fear the Spotlight into a graphic novel.

To support all of this growth, the company has set up an advisory board that includes a few kids industry veterans: Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (Percy Jackson, Maze Runner) and former Netflix kids and family exec Curtis Lelash (Adventure Time).