It builds a global audience and investors contribute millions for it to continue and expand. Naif Al-Mutawa’s tale hits a few roadblocks — the main being a struggle to build an audience where free expression has been hampered by a post-2001 rise in the United States of suspicion and scrutiny of all things Islamic.

For Al-Mutawa, it is evidence that tales like his are needed to counter hard-line, intolerant ideologies of all stripes. Al-Mutawa’s reputation in the Middle East and elsewhere has grown since the 2006 debut of “The 99,” as well as its rollout into animation.

The comic book spawned a TV series and 26 half-hour episodes of the 3-D animated version of the “The 99” have been sold to broadcasters. They are expected to be released early next year in more than 50 countries, and a second season is in production.

Al-Mutawa, a US-educated psychologist from Kuwait, has been promoting a PBS documentary that tells the story of “The 99” from an idea hatched during a cab ride to its raising of $40 million in three calls for investors.

The promotional push is supporting the animated series, the vehicle by which his company hopes to turn a profit. “The 99” grew out of his childhood love of Batman, Superman and their superhero brethren, along with a desire to provide role models for his five young sons.