In a move that takes storylines from original mobile apps and expands them, comic book publisher Ape Entertainment has announced new licensing deals to create digital comic books and graphic novels based on the hit mobile games Temple Run and Fruit Ninja.

Ape, which also turned Chillingo’s hit Cut the Rope app into a comic, has partnered with Washington, D.C.-based indie developer Imangi Studios to create Temple Run comics and graphic novels in a deal brokered by Dimension Branding Group.

The comics and novels will explore the untold back story of the app’s treasure collecting hero and delve into the mysteries of the game’s ancient temples.

Ape is set to launch the print version of the full-color comic book series and a standalone Temple Run Comics app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch in the coming months.

Since its debut in August 2011, Temple Run has been downloaded more than 60 million times and was recently named as one of Time magazine’s top 30 apps to download. A recent deal was also made between Imangi and Spin Master Games to produce traditional games based on the IP.

Meanwhile, Ape has also entered a new licensing agreement with Australia’s Halfbrick Studios to develop comic books and graphic novels based on its top-selling Fruit Ninja property.

The deal, brokered by Halfbrick’s worldwide licensing agent HAP Consulting, will see comics and novels explore the untold back story of the colorful, slicing and dicing Fruit Ninja universe.

Print versions and the full-color comic book series will be released digitally through a standalone Fruit Ninja Comics app on the App Store in the coming months.

Fruit Ninja, which has amassed more than 300 million downloads for iPhone, iPad and Android since its debut in 2010, is also available for Facebook and Xbox 360 Kinect, and the IP’s L&M program grew last month with new international deals and the signing of two new sub-agents.