TEEN ANGELS is a magazine created in 1979 by David Holland, a former muralist from San Jose. It was published for the first time in 1981 in limited quantity every two months. Besides the fact that it was dedicated to cars, the magazine wanted to be representative of the "chicano" community through art and fashion. Poems from prisoners, typography pages, pictures from readers or drawings from amateur artists were included. Topics such as pregnancy among teenagers and abortions were also covered. But most of the dectrators accused the magazine of glorifying the « gang culture ». Indeed, it was completely ususal to see pictures of weapons and gang members throwing up gangsta signs on pages. The TEEN ANGELS was mainly read by kids because they could identify themselves to the differents topics covered, and see their harsh reality laid down on paper . In the 90's the magazine was mostly respected by the urban community. In 1992, The Los Angeles Times revealed that some police officers would use it to identify the new trends in gangs clothing style, verify informations, suspect and arrest gang members. « Gangs use it to advertise their philosophy…. It’s a badge of honor to have your gang in the magazine ». But this pejorative vision is completely at odds with the true message of union and fraternity between the members of the barrio. The TEEN ANGELS has now found a new audience in European and Asian countries, its issues are now considered as gems by many buyers. Since the death of David Holland aka « Mr Teen Angel » who left behind, a huge legacy.
