Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America.

[11][failed verification] Terry Nantier (born 1957) spent his teenage years living in Paris,[12] developing an interest in European comics.

In 1976, while still a Newhouse student, and using his Lawrinson Hall dorm room as headquarters,[13] he teamed with Chris Beall and Marc Minoustchine[12] to found Flying Buttress Publications with an initial investment of $2,100.

Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy reprinted the entire 1924–43 run of Roy Crane’s strip in an 18-volume series with biographical and historical commentary by Bill Blackbeard.

Leading off the Amerotica titles were Skin Tight Orbit, volumes 1 and 2, erotic science fiction anthologies written by Elaine Lee.

It was not until 1997 that NBM published their first actual comic books—in a magazine format—when they reprinted issues of Pratt's Corto Maltese in a seven-issue limited series.

[22] Early on, NBM was distributed to the direct market through outfits like Sea Gate Distributors, Bud Plant Inc., Last Gasp, and Krupp Comic Works.