That's really clever and also slightly creepy-looking.

I have a stack of big, fat, old Shonen Jump graphic mags from the 90s - perfect for this! I love how the mags are stood upright in shallow white trays, which I also have, thanks to my constant collecting of plain white ala carte pieces from Target ;)

How long can the plants live like that, though?

I have an aerogarden and the plants in it can live hydroponically for about a year, so that would be my guess. I was thinking I would just plant the whole thing, mag and all, into soil after a few months of raising the seedlings indoors. The mag pages are newsprint as opposed to glossy so they should be able to be planted.

Huh. What about old paperbacks?

I think this would work with paperbacks and also phone books, as long as the pages are newsprint, as iconomy said. (The glossy pages not being as permeable to water)

I just set this up with some shoots from a houseplant and an old phonebook. It'll be cool if it works!