Flyer Watch: paperthirst
A zine collective making art about poppers
From lookalike contests to runaway prison inmates, NYC flyers are a cultural touchstone. I’ve decided to try my hand at (light) investigative journalism. This series will explore the strange, illuminating world of flyers around the city. Enjoy!
paperthirst, a New York based zine collective, hopes to demystify poppers in their upcoming second issue.
“People ask me,” said zinester and collective member Ed, “‘Isn’t this about the drug that makes your butthole bigger?’ Yes, it is!”
Ed, 24, who also goes by Mr. E, designed the flyer and posted it around his neighborhood in Bushwick. Poppers are just a jumping-off point. Wait, what? I think queer thoughts and need to share read blocky handwriting against a litany of DIY show announcements
“To highlight poppers is to open up a door to a corner of the gay community,” explained Ed. “[It] allows for people to think about the history, the intersection with gay men, and the cruising scene in New York City.”
The theme––which members voted on via Discord server––comes partially in response to RFK Jr.’s FDA crackdown, which shuttered the popular brand Double Scorpio and is part of his larger AIDs denial campaign. On an episode of the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, RFK attributed HIV/AIDs to the usage of the drug.
“I feel this is representative of what this government wants to control,” said Ed, “which is the private lives of gay and marginalized people.”
paperthirst centers the voices of BIPOC, trans, and NYC native artists with an emphasis on building an in-person artist community. The organization was first founded in December of 2024. By July 2025, the collective co-hosted a zine trading event in collaboration with zine archive ABC No Rio and Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore, a queer and sex-worker-owned bookstore in the Lower East Side.
The five-hour event, according to Ed, included a drug safety workshop and a seminar on combating ICE raids. At the center of the venue, a large table with stacks of free zines crafted by participants. Artist newbies with nothing to swap could walk to the back table, where paperthirst provided crafting materials and a linograph tutorial.
Approximately 30 people stopped by paperthirst’s table, with more circulating through the event. Zines ranged in subject: a graffiti artist showcased his tag while another participant furiously wrote poetry. Most of the collected works were personal.
“I don’t think it’s about the product,” said Ed, It’s about the act of making something and distributing it. The process of collaging, getting out those initial jitters of making something good and just making it.”
While Ed noted that zines carry an anti-authoritarian history, paperthirst isn’t strictly politics. He wrote and illustrated a comic about the party foul of spilling poppers.
Mostly, Ed appreciates the accessibility of zines.
“As long as you have a paper and a pen, you can make a zine,” he said. “Honestly, if you don’t have that, you could still find a way to make one.”
You can submit to the Poppers issue through paperthirst’s website until August 15th or join the Discord server to get involved.