- Strange Hill
Strange Hill is the title of two British
comic strip s, one of which ran in "Whizzer and Chips ", the other in "The Dandy ". The title is a reference to the long runningBBC tv show Grange Hill about a school of that name. Both strips were set in horrifying schools.The "Dandy" version was a very "safe" version of
Hammer Horror clichés, similar to Number 13 in "The Beano " or the US TV series "The Munsters ". The focus was on the school's only normal pupil, who was remarkedly unfazed that his schoolmates included avampire , amummy etc. It's full name is "Eddie Potter at Strange Hill School". This is not a parody of Harry Potter, who didn't exist yet.By contrast, the "Whizzer and Chips" version featured a normal teacher, at a similar, but much more grotesque school. Unlike the lead character in the
DC Thomson strip, "Teach" found his sanity rapidly decaying as he faced his horrific pupils.It could be argued that the difference between these strips highlight the differences between the relatively safe, conservative humour of DC Thomson and the more edgy, bizarre
Fleetway style.External links
* [http://www.toonhound.com/strangehill.htm Toonhound article on the Fleetway version]
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