NBM, following in the footsteps of First Second, has launched a blog featuring their “star cartoonists” and news about their books. (That’s not the only thing the two companies have in common — they both publish Lewis Trondheim.)

It’s the perfect promotion venue for a publisher, and NBM has implemented it well, allowing interested readers to subscribe via RSS to the whole thing or just particular contributors. (Although that requires finding the right link on a specific author page.) And there’s a wide range of artists participating. For instance:

Rick Geary shares pages from the next book in his series A Treasury of XXth Century Murder, covering Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. Fascinating case!

Neil Kleid previews his upcoming The Big Kahn, “the story of what happens when a New Jersey rabbi dies and at the funeral, his family, and congregation of forty years discover that he’s been conning them: he isn’t even Jewish.” That’s quite a hook, and I’m eager to hear more.

Dirk Schwieger presents a two-page Moresukine bonus story.

Naomi Nowak (Unholy Kinship) shows off images from her “eerie graphic novel Graylight“.

Says publisher Terry Nantier, “I’d like to think that for the first time anywhere we really are creating a community with this blog instead of just the editors informing their readers.” That’s reaching a bit, but I admire his intent. I think community depends on two things: continued updates by interesting contributors, and good comments from the right kind of audience.