Ablaze Publishing has acquired NBM Publishing in an asset sale, with NBM co-founder Terry Nantier to package new titles for Ablaze. The acquisition includes the NBM brand and the entire NBM catalog of bandes dessinées and literary comics, and it provides for the assumption of contracts with creators and licensors and the transfer of editorial operations to Ablaze. The brand will continue as an imprint of Ablaze. Bill Schanes negotiated the asset sale on behalf of Ablaze.

Ablaze plans to utilize the acquisition to expand its reach into international markets, bolster its backlist, and launch new creator-owned titles drawing on NBM’s heritage. NBM titles will be distributed along with other Ablaze titles by Simon & Schuster, Lunar, Universal, and Diamond UK. NBM had been distributed by IPG (see “IPG to Begin Direct Market Distribution”).

“NBM’s unique position as one of North America’s earliest graphic-novel houses, its strong European-comics list and reputation for editorial excellence make it the perfect complement to Ablaze’s global comics vision,” Ablaze co-founder Rich Young said in a statement accompanying the announcement. 

Terry Nantier co-founded NBM (Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine Publishing) in 1976 as the first American publisher to focus exclusively on graphic novels, introducing BD to the U.S. market.  We talked to Nantier back in 2016 about his long career popularizing the rich tradition of Franco-Belgian publishing (see “ICv2 Interview: NBM’s Terry Nantier”).

Creators published by NBM over its distinguished history include Hugo Pratt, P. Craig Russell, Will Eisner, Jon Muth, Dave McKean, Milo Manara, Lewis Trondheim, Etienne Davodeau, and Cyril Pedrosa, among many others. “It has been a true labor of love to build NBM into a home for translated European graphic novels and literary comics,” Nantier said. "Joining forces with Ablaze ensures that our founders’ mission lives on and our catalog reaches even more readers worldwide.”

Nantier will serve as editorial consultant and packager for Ablaze, with several new books in development for 2026.