Paper Airplane magazine releases first-ever print issue as part of new quarterly subscription

PHILADELPHIA — Paper Airplane magazine released its first-ever print issue today as part of its new quarterly subscription, which is also available in digital format. 

Conceived as a grown-up mashup of the magazines you loved as a kid, Paper Airplane features writing, games, comics, infographics, photos, art and activities — with no ads and no AI. Print issues include tangible activities like coloring pages, cut-out postcards and other surprises.

Paper Airplane’s launch as a quarterly follows the success of Vol. 1, its all-volunteer, digital debut issue, which was only available by making a donation to USCRI (Refugees.org). The issue raised more than $10,000 in support of refugees and immigrants.

2026 issues will include: 

• Author Q&As with Hanif Abdurraqib, Duane Swierczynski and more. 
• The stamp art of Eisner Award-winning comics artist Chris Ware. 
• Wordplay by lexicographer and author Kory Stamper.
• Book excerpts from Pulitzer Prize winner Douglas Hofstadter, marine biologist Helen Scales and more.
• Comics by New Yorker cartoonist Navied Madhavian, graphic novelist K. Wroten and many others.
• Games, including word puzzles by Scott Kim and Eric Berlin, “Escape Pages” and more.
• Elaborate mazes by Guinness World Record-holding mazemaker Michelle Boggess-Nunley.
• A stunning photo series by photographer and cellist Charles Brooks.
• Infographics by biology professor and cartoonist Caroline Hu.
• Longform writing by Emily McCrary, Benjamin Cassidy, and more.
• Coloring pages, including a connect-the-dots activity by artist Vanna Black, adapted from her latest mural.
• Cut-out postcards by artist Anne Connell.
• Cover art by illustrator Kaitlin Brito.

Publisher and editor Nick Norlen founded the magazine in 2025 as a passion project after being laid off from his role as senior editor of Dictionary.com. He describes Paper Airplane as “the exact opposite of doomscrolling.”

“I started Paper Airplane as a way to make the kind of magazine I’ve always wanted to exist. It’s been thrilling to find so many wildly talented contributors who share the same vision,” Norlen said. “I’m so excited to see their work in tangible, tactile, beautiful print.”

Print subscribers can get the first-ever print issue during its limited run. Both digital and print subscriptions to Paper Airplane are only available at PaperAirplane.pub.