Interview with Illustrator

John Kovalic

BYLINEISSUE IX

2 Editor: Xander CosgraveDesigner: Robert O’SullivanFilm & TV Editor: Olivia BrownMusic Editor: Holly Cooney

Arts & Lit Editor: Colm FurlongGaming Editor: Aoife GleesonFiction Editor: Austin DowlingHumour Editor: Lauren Mulvihill

BYLINE EDITORIAL STAFF

There is a game, called Call of Cthulhu, based on the works of HP Lovecraft, where you are an investigator trying to stop some form of overbearing doom from coming to the world and destroying everything you hold dear, usually by doing lots of research. This game has a mechanic for your character going slowly going mad while you sit in libraries trying to eke out some use from the esoteric knowledge being presented to you by insane academics and long dead prophets.

Obviously, this game was designed by someone who really wanted to bring the college experience to everyone, but also had some fascination with tentacle monsters from beyond space and time.

But you’re not here for the bleak reality of your degree, you’re here to read some stuff that makes you seem intelligent and cultured in the old bar, and we’re here to help. This week, we have an interview with cartoonist and game designer John Kovalic, a personal hero of mine, and someone who shows us all that we can actually achieve our dreams of following our nerdy

and obscure passion, we just need to buy into things like a 26 hour day. No hassle at all then right?

On our list of awesome things that are happening soon, Deadpool is coming out, and I really just want to see a Ryan Reynolds superhero movie where he doesn’t glow. Less awesome than that is Valentine’s day, so if anyone needs me on the 14th, I’ll be watching Deadpool, alone. Making an amazing meal for two people, Alone, and then eating that meal, Alone. It’s a wonderful time of year.

In all seriousness though, February is grey and grim, so if you’re feeling down at all don’t forget to talk to someone, and get out of the library occasionally so you don’t forget what the sun looks like. Actually, it’s February, I guess I mean so you don’t forget what rain feels like? Something like that. This is all bullshit, when is Spring coming.

At the Desks of Madness

#XanderFhtagn

What’s Inside... Headlines of Byline:FILM & TV

MUSIC

ARTS & LIT

GAMING

HUMOUR

INTERVIEW

“Zoe Fitzpatrick looks at the best of the Brit Awards nominees from the past & the future, while Music Editor Holly Cooney reviews the current direction of...One Direction following their announced split”

“Colm Furlong reviews the Green Road following its recent republishing, talks about what it’s like to do poetry & drama live on stage and Designer Rob talks about Deadpool, the greatest modern lit. character”

“Jonathan Soltan previews the next great crowdfunded games, Kieran Collins reviews the great Deadpool games & Gaming Editor Aoife Gleeson looks at what we know of Nintendo’s next gaming console”

“A (bath) bomb scare in Lush, mysterious tins of tuna explained, #SoberBants on nights out and local racists deny logic exists in a startling new move”

“BYLINE interviews John Kovalic: writer, illustrator and creator of games like Munchkin, Kobalds Ate My Baby and other cult classics. Interview courtesy of Radio Warpcon, and was conducted at Warpcon 26”

“Zoe Fitzpatrick talks through the best of & the best upcoming Netflix Original Series, while Express Editor Brian Conmy talks about the failures of our national broadcaster, Raidio Teilifis Eireann”

3

POETRY

FICTION EDITOR - AUSTIN DOWLING

Listen to Me

The Party Poem

Some Morning

by Julia C.

by Dylan P. O’Keeffe

by Dylan P. O’Keeffe

Do not look into your mother’s room, Poppy. It will only bring you back.

Poppy, pull the rug on the stairs to straighten it out and walk right into your cat. Your cat will cry out in pain. You will run off into the television room and hide from your own cat and you will wonder what happened to the days of calling it a ‘living’ room. Your cat has forgotten you ever stood on its tail but you won’t leave the television room for hours. Not until it scratches at the door and its imagined tears dig like sharp nails deep down into your soul. Not until your cat is desperate for food. That cat is all you have these days, Poppy. That cat is your family.

You will return to the bottom of the stairs, Poppy, and once again you will stare at your mother’s room. Do not even consider it, Poppy. Some doors are better left closed.

Poppy, walk into the kitchen and make yourself a meal before bed. It is bad for you to eat before bedtime but it is far worse to sleep on an empty stomach. You will have no trouble falling asleep tonight. As you prepare a light sandwich you will listen

to Chet Baker and your dreams will take shape.

When you reach the top of the stairs you will wrap your hand over the handle of mother’s door. You asked the priest to lock that door and he is keeping the key safe for you, Poppy. He is keeping the key away from you. It will not open.

Do not dream of mother tonight, Poppy. Dream of someone you have long forgotten. Let the snoring cat, who has long since forgiven you, fool you into thinking Eddie has returned. Let the cat take Eddie’s place and let the memory of Eddie keep you warm. Do not dream of mother tonight, Poppy. Dream of Eddie and let the sad songs of Chet Baker take you far away. Dream of something far away, like the night you first met. You were warmer then.

When you wake early and the cat is asleep and you have no work to go to because you are old, do not stand at mother’s door, Poppy. Do not knock at her door. Mother is not inside. Do not knock at her door, Poppy. It will not open.

I remember when I was dancing I heard those titan words, That something will restore Life To each and every one of us, And no more.

We’re not happy or enlightened, Flaunting sighs by the door, Parading some complexity, Endeavouring for something more,

For touch, And sight, skin on skin, Fluff and fuss, Losing line of sight-

Before catching again, To find- We never taste as we smell, It’s not about understanding, But fascination and feel.

For Clob

Could you burden my chest With your windy hand, Light of low refrain,

And speak of your sky, Breathe in and sigh Of some blue of the night,

And what if clouds were no thing At four AM or PM- Whenever we’re awake,

Would you whisper Of floating, So naturally, so painfully?

4

HUMOURScientists Still Not Sure Where that Tin of Tuna In Your Press Came From

Sober Guy in Nightclub Assures Friends He’s Having Fun

by Raymond Luxury-Yacht

by Lauren Mulvihill

HEADLINES

TV LISTINGS

Sports: Someone won something, presumablyNews: All UCC students suddenly very aware of the inner workings or medium scale servers

for some reasonFashion: Everybody still

trying to forget about the noughties

College: Increase in number of lads asking

for a cheeky finger during sex, “Sur Kanye

loves it”

Music: Public wondering what Seán

Kingston has been up to lately

Politics: Politicians being bitchier than usual in run-up to

general election

RTÉ One, Friday @ 9PM: Harry Potter

and “the Philosopher’s Stoned”

UTV Ireland, Saturday @ 6PM: Two hours of

static, because we don’t even care.

Top scientists have revealed this week that they’re still not entirely sure where that tin of tuna in your press came from.

Researchers from every major university in Ireland apart from Trinity College (on account of them being “hard work”) have spent the past decade attempting to explain the phenomenon, theorising that tins of tuna generally do not appear in a press without someone placing them there. So far, however, the theory remains unproven. Dr. Joan West of University College Cork explains why.

“You would imagine that this would simply be a matter of finding out whether or not people bought the tins and then put them in the press,” Dr. West, who has headed the research team since 2006, said in a statement, “but the answers we have gotten have been inconclusive. It’s as if the tuna has been lying around since time immemorial.”

Conspiracy theorists have since taken matters into their own hands, with internet forums such as ‘Bigger Tuna Fish to Fry’, which is based in Sweden, gaining popularity as scientific research has continued to yield inconclusive results. The most popular view being subscribed to at the moment claims that the confusion is an elaborate plan by tuna aficionados to

indoctrinate as many people as possible, through the use of subliminal messaging, into some sort of tuna-worshipping cult.

“Nobody even likes tun [sic], man! U know who likes tuna?? CULTS,” DublinersAgainstTunaSecrecy, a regular visitor to the BTFF forum who is believed to be from Dublin, posted on Monday. Researchers have since broken their silence around the conspiracy theorists to assure the public that while the scenario is “unlikely”, they are “looking into it”.

“Between you and me,” Dr. West revealed to our reporter in a confidential conversation, “this whole thing is making me lose faith in my discipline, which is physics. Y’know what is cool? Aliens. I’m thinking of giving it all up and focusing on them. But don’t publish that.”

The next step in the process will be the most adventurous yet, with a nationwide survey being sent to every Irish household in the coming weeks. Previous surveys carried out in Britain suggest that the tuna tin phenomenon – described as “possibly paranormal” by the British Journal of Natural Sciences – affects at least 8 in 10 households, although commentators have suggested that confusion over whether tins containing brine count may have skewed the results.

Seán Power (20), a sober guy in a local nightclub, spent much of Tuesday night assuring his drunk friends that he was indeed having a nice time, according to reports.

The Marketing student has revealed that he was simply “feeling it” at pre-drinks, whereas most of his friends were “pure gone” by the time they headed into Cork City at approximately 11PM. By the time the group headed to a popular nightclub two hours later, Mr. Power was fully sober, but made sure his friends knew that he was still having a nice time.

“I love swaying awkwardly in the corner while the lads are out on the dancefloor. It’s great craic,” he insisted, a single tear glistening in the corner of his eye.

According to witnesses, Seán was seen dancing self-consciously among a group of acquaintances at least twice throughout the night, with some describing him as looking “like a sad plank of wood”. Others observed that “he was smiling, but not with his heart”. Throughout all of this, Mr. Power was heard repeating the phrase “no, I’m grand. This is great craic. It’s grand. It’s great craic.”

When contacted for a statement, Seán continued to insist that he loves going to nightclubs, even while sober.

“It’s not at all uncomfortable,” he stated forcefully. “I enjoy being able to fully experience being pushed around by people who can’t dance as well as they think they can, and waiting at the bar for twenty minutes before being served watered-down drinks. And, y’know, with all the people getting the shift and, like, groping each other, it’s a bit like a modern-day romcom. I wasn’t a bit self-conscious or uncomfortable. I was having fun. It was great craic. It was…” he paused as his voice broke, “… it was just great craic.”

Mr. Power continued to reassure his friends that he was having fun as they headed to a nearby chipper at closing time, and then insisted on continuing the party at the apartment of another group that they had become acquainted with while intoxicated. According to a reliable source, Seán was heard responding with “I’m totally comfortable with that, this is all great craic, and all I want is for you all to accept me.”

“Banter,” he added, with a quiet sob.

5

HUMOUREDITOR - LAUREN MULVIHILL

Local Racists Officially Renounce Logic

(Bath) Bomb Scare in Lush

by Raymond Luxury Yacht

by Lauren Mulvihill

Authorities have recently re-opened Oliver Plunkett Street to the public after a bomb scare in popular cosmetics shop, Lush, caused chaos early this week.

The bombs, believed to be of the bath variety, were described by customers as “suspicious-looking”, “round”, and having a “pleasant smell that [they] just didn’t trust”. Reports have claimed that the shop in question was carrying hundreds of the small, inconspicuous-looking weapons of mass destruction, which activate upon coming into contact with water.

The threat gained public attention following the Christmas period, when thousands of ‘edgy’ youths began to post images of the bombs on social media, often coupled with ominous comments

such as “couldn’t help myself!” and “bath bombs for life”. Believing this to be yet another example of counter-culture, government agencies largely ignored the issue until receiving reports from across the country that the young people were deploying the bombs in their own homes. This led to a complete disruption of services in Oliver Plunkett Street as shops belonging to the cosmetics chain known as Lush were raided by Garda bomb disposal units nationwide.

In a statement following the raid, Enda Kenny assured the public that, if re-elected, Fine Gael would continue to take a firm stance on threats of this nature.

“Sure, some would call it an ‘overreaction’. Some would describe this so-called Lush place as a

shining example of ethical trade and practice, and possibly the least likely international terrorist organisation in the country. But, at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves – if Britain can detain a child for a misspelling the word ‘terraced’ as ‘terrorist’, can we not deploy a few special forces to raid a little shop every now and then?”

Employees of the chain have defended their actions, describing the highly destructive bath bombs as “not at all dangerous”, “cute” and “very relaxing to dissolve in bathwater”. These claims come despite allegations from a highly unreliable source that the bombs are also fitted with miniature recording devices – allegations that most media outlets have essentially confirmed, because, like, the source seemed nice enough.

Gardaí have assured the public that the raids were successful, and also that the venture was in no way meant to distract from the continuing lack of police presence in rural areas. Senior Gardaí were quick to add that they also almost definitely possibly found what could be some sort of napalm, which had the texture and smell of shampoo and was labelled as such. The raids therefore, they stressed, were in no way a distraction from more important issues.

Local racists have made headlines this week by officially renouncing the concept of logic.

This position has come as no surprise to the general public, as the abandonment of logic has long been an unofficial policy of the group. However, many observers had previously expressed doubts as to whether or not the racists would take a hard-line stance on the subject.

Prior to the adoption of this new policy, racists simply ignored all scientific and sociological evidence as well as common sense in favour of what is included in their unwritten constitution as “Basically, Useful Lies and Libel – Stuff that’s Handy Instead of True”, sometimes abbreviated to “B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.”. Sources say that the group has now come to understand that they are fooling nobody but themselves, and

believe that transparency is key to being racist in modern Ireland.

Paddy O’Donoghue (32), from Cork City, described the new policy as “a relief ”.

“Before this, if I wanted to say that all Muslims were terrorists, people would have thrown really inconvenient and distracting things at me like ‘facts’ or ‘figures’: all this liberal, airy-fairy shite about them being ‘people’. Now I’m free to believe that my neighbours are an ISIS, so I can harass them guilt-free,” he added, referring to the Sikh family-of-four that live across the road from him – “their actual beliefs are fairly irrelevant as long as they have that look about them, d’you get me”.

Racists outside the city have also come out in favour of the move, with many taking to social media to showcase their newfound confidence in their own incorrect opinions.

“This is a great day for Ireland,” one Theresa Moore posted to her Facebook page. “No longer will

I have to say ‘I’m not racist, but’ before saying something racist. Now I can just let my ignorant prejudice run free.”

The renouncement of logic has paved the way for a brand new type of discourse among Irish racists, who now will not stand for anyone being critical of Irish culture or society because we built America and racism doesn’t exist here and sure aren’t we the loveliest, most welcoming people in the world as long as you’re a tourist who’ll be going back to your own country next Friday and sure didn’t my niece’s cousin go out with a black lad for a week or two, how can I be racist.

Inside sources claim that the decision to abandon logic and reasoning mainly aims to allow

racists to complain about refugees receiving more attention from the government and the media than the homeless, while continuing to do literally nothing to help either group.

The coming weeks are sure to see more casual racism and ignoring of the rise of far-right movements.

6

GAMINGCrowdfunding for DummiesJonathan Soltan explores recent ups and downs in crowdfunded games

Crowd funding in the video game industry has only been mainstream for about three or four years now since it exploded onto the scene with the Kickstarter campaign for Double Fine Adventure in 2012, which would eventually be released as Broken Age. Since 2012, the system has had its ups and downs as some games got delayed, failed to deliver everything that was promised or just plain failed to release altogether. Ironically, one of the first major negative stories to come out of crowd funding was the same one that popularised it: Broken Age. Although the game reached its funding goal eight times over, due to feature creep and bad money management, Double Fine ran out of funds to finish the game with and ended up releasing the game in two parts with the first releasing in January 2014 and the second finally releasing over a year later.

Massive Chalice

Double Fine again dipped into the Kickstarter pool when they launched the campaign for Massive Chalice. This game was seemingly managed much better with only one minor delay until eventually being released from its beta in Steam Early Access to generally favourable reviews. Another Double Fine game that was put in the Early Access programme was SpaceBase DF-9. However, this game would again sour the public’s view of Double Fine when it was announced in September of 2014 that the game would exit Early Access the next month with all support for the game stopping at that point. This was seen as a slap in the face by some as the game was missing many features that had been promised during development.

Psychonauts 2

Recently Double Fine launched a crowd funding campaign for the long awaited Psychonauts 2. While many rejoiced at the revival of a beloved franchise, it’s not all sunshine and roses. The company that’s hosting the campaign, Fig, was founded by the former COO of Double Fine. In addition to that, Tim Schafer, the founder of Double Fine, is on the advisory board of Fig. All of this serves to make the situation very muddled, to say the least. On top of all of that, there’s some very confusing wording in the terms of service which make it seem like any money donated doesn’t actually have to be used to make Psychonauts 2. It’s a strange situation all around but only time will tell whether or not Double Fine will deliver the game on time and as promised.

Mighty No. 9Another game that raised a lot of money on Kickstarter is the Mega Man spiritual successor Mighty No. 9. Spearheaded by former Mega Man developer Keiji Inafune, the campaign launched in late August of 2013 and, like Broken Age, shot past its original goal. With the pedigree of Inafune attached to the project, people were extremely confident that the project was a slam dunk. However, as of this writing the final quality of the game is unknown and the development has been anything but smooth. The game was originally scheduled to release in April of 2015, but this was pushed back at the last second to September later that same year. In August of 2015 the game was delayed again to early February 2016. Again, however, just a few weeks before the expected release, the game has been pushed back once again to a nebulous Spring 2016 release window.

The delays alone would be cause for concern, but there have been more worrying signs. Since the original Kickstarter campaign, Comcept, Inafune’s development studio, have launched several others. They launched one campaign to fund DLC for the game, one for a new game called Red Ash and another for an anime series based on the same game. Although the campaign for the anime series succeeded, the campaign for the game itself fell far short of its goal. On top of this, just a few days before the campaign deadline, Comcept announced that the game would be funded in full by a company called Fuze, regardless of the success of the Kickstarter campaign. This left many fans with a sour taste in their mouths as this announcement made it fairly evident that the game could have been funded through traditional means without money being taken from fans. Again, only time will tell if things turn out for the best with these games.

Darkest Dungeon

One game took a different path through development, and it’s been an unqualified success. The small team behind Darkest Dungeon set up a Kickstarter campaign and, like others, blew past their original goal. Approximately one year after the end of the campaign, the game was put on Steam Early Access. Throughout the next year the game was consistently updated using feedback from the community to help steer the path of development. The game finally had its full release on Steam on the 19th of January 2016 to very favourable reviews. The developers have since stated that the game has already sold 650,000 copies including backer rewards. A release on PlayStation 4 and Vita is expected sometime in early 2016.

While most of these stories have left people angry at some point, nothing can be as bad as the recent story that broke of the developer of Ant Simulator having all the money raised through crowd funding spent on booze and strippers by his (now former) friends and business partners. Let that be a lesson to everyone: be careful who you give your money to.

7

GAMINGEDITOR - AOIFE GLEESON

Deadpool’s Best Games

What is the Nintendo NX?

Kieran Collins looks at the Merc with a Mouth’s video game history before the film’s release

By Aoife Gleeson

X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005)

In the classic anti-hero style, Deadpool appears in this game first as a boss battle, but only because he was hired and payed to do so. After defeated, he joins your party and becomes a playable character. Thanks to the games great writing Deadpool is excellent here, complete with hilarious jokes and references and, of course, 4th wall breaks.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance series (2006, 2009)

With Deadpool playable from level one and providing witty phrases throughout, these games provided yet another fantastic adaptation. In the sequel, he is again a boss fight and then a party member, but this time his reason for fighting is different. As Washington D.C. is being attacked, he’s pissed off that the cherry blossoms are being damaged. The most hilarious example of just how good they did Deadpool in this game is if you replay the D.C. level with him already unlocked, he questions why there are two of him and where the “continuity guy” is.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011)

Deadpool certainly doesn’t disappoint in his fighting game debut. You would expect him to be merely a joke character, but he is actually a very well-rounded and fun fighter. That doesn’t mean his signature wit isn’t present though.

He speaks directly to the player, moonwalks and, funniest of all, uses his health bar to bash his opponent in one of his attacks. Nolan North stars as the regenerating degenerate and kills it (pun intended).

Lego Marvel Superheroes (2013)

Who doesn’t love a good Lego game, especially if its story is narrated by Deadpool? Nolan North reprises the role and, given much more dialogue, represents the Merc with a Mouth with style. It’s a standard Lego game, so if you like Lego and you like Deadpool, it’s definitely worth your time.

Deadpool (2013)

Finally, the big one: Deadpool’s solo game. In the style of a hack and slash game, this entry goes really deep into the character’s lore. Love interests Domino and Death (Yes,

for those of you unversed in all things Deadpool, Death incarnated is a love interest), best friend Cable, and rival Wolverine, all show up prominently. The writing is easily this game’s best part. Deadpool is writing the game as it goes along and he and the voices in his head, provide commentary throughout in their perspectives. Again, Nolan North (who seems to have the monopoly on Deadpool voice work) plays Wade Wilson and gives one of his best performances yet. His voice work, along with the stellar writing, really make this a game that any Deadpool fan would be sorry to miss. And with its recent re-release to coincide with the movie, it’s one of the easiest game on this list to get your hands on.

Rumours have been circulating for a while now concerning Nintendo’s next gaming platform, cryptically codenamed the Nintendo NX. Little is officially known about the console, with speculation running rampant in the face of little detail being provided by the company. Here’s what we do know at the moment: the NX is a dedicated gaming platform being released as two consoles, a handheld later this year followed by a home console in 2017. Nintendo has also partnered up with mobile developer DeNA to create multiplatform games featuring Nintendo IPs. Our first high profile example of this is Pokémon GO, which will be released on iOS and Android later this year. This seems odd, as Nintendo appears to be cannibalising its own future NX sales by releasing a Pokémon game (a proven console mover) on mobile platforms. This would seem to lend credence to the rumour that the NX handheld would run on Android, but Nintendo quickly quashed this rumour. Regardless, this seems to be Nintendo’s answer to dwindling profits but it makes you wonder why they would bother launching another handheld console at all. Perhaps the answer lies with Pokémon X and Z, which we still have scant details about. NX has been rumoured to function with smartphones, PCs and, bizarrely, PS4s. While Nintendo’s profits have drastically dipped, I doubt they’d be desperate enough to stick their games on a competitor’s console.

Change is coming though. In an interview with a Japanese magazine Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said that, with their new console, the company was not looking to build on old ideas but offer entirely new ones instead. This implies that the NX will not be an evolution of the Wii U before it, but instead distance itself conceptually. One thing’s for sure: Nintendo will need to communicate the concept of this console in much clearer fashion than they did with the Wii U. By introducing a new console barely four years after the launch of the Wii U, the company appears to be cutting their losses on a failed console: a good strategy. While the NX is still conceptually murky, hopefully Nintendo has the games to back it up. The Legend of Zelda Wii U was revealed back in 2013 – it’s likely that this will make the jump to being a launch game for NX, not unlike Twilight Princess’ dual release on Wii and Gamecube. While Nintendo has had a rough few years, they do have a long history of soaring highs and crushing lows: they always bounce back. Remember, the Nintendo 64 came out just a year after the Virtual Boy, one of the biggest console failures in gaming history. I wouldn’t count Nintendo out just yet. Nintendo will, reportedly, reveal the console later this year around E3.

8

ARTS & LITERATUREMeet Deadpool: The Greatest Character of Modern Literature

Deadpool Comic Series to Read Before (or After) You See the Movie

Robert O’Sullivan looks at the history of the Merc with a Mouth & states his case that Deadpool is the best invention of modern literary works

Deadpool is a character created by writer Fabian Nicieza & artist Rob Liefield in 1991. Initially created as a carbon-copy of DC’s Deathstroke (whose real alias, Slade Wilson, was oh-so subtly ripped for our hero’s name Wade Wilson), Deadpool started life as a recurring hero/anti-hero in various Marvel books & storylines throughout the early-mid 90s. Deadpool was the subject of two mini-series in 1993 & 1994 but this Merc had yet to get his Mouth. That wouldn’t happen until 1997 when he became a bit more fleshed out in his own series, first under Joe Kelly & then under Ed McGuinness.

Deadpool was one of the first characters in popular fiction that had fourth-wall breaking as a central character trait; Deadpool, using several different colour text boxes to represent the different personalities in Wade’s head, communicates directly to the audience & uses references from our popular culture and history that may not exist in the world of Marvel. Wade, having developed a rare form of cancer, undergoes risky tests as part of the Weapon X program, the same

which gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton. Having been given Wolverine’s healing factor Wade’s cancer is in flux, constantly being healed and killing him simultaneously. This causes him to develop the aforementioned personalities, similar to Dissociative Identity Disorder. What for most characters would be a struggle is an advantage for Deadpool, being a large part of his humour & character in both the real world sense & fictional sense. He not only conquers his disabilities & illnesses but makes them his strengths, not just using them for storylines.

As mentioned, Deadpool possesses the same healing powers as Wolverine, effectively making him immortal. Taking away the chance of death would, one assume, take away any consequences or tension in a story. Instead it adds another

dimension to the Deadpool story, removing the tension death adds and allowing for the levity of the humour to take centre stage. In fact, the personification of Death (a character in the Marvel Universe) is Deadpool’s main love interest, forming a great ‘forbidden love’ couple.

While all the previous points were incredibly well-written, well thought out & based in fact, but this one is entirely nerdy. In several series, namely Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Deadpool Killustrated & Deadpool Kills Deadpool, Deadpool proves my theory correct. In this three part series a new text box pops up and drives Deadpools to kill all your favourite Marvel heroes (and villains), great literary characters such as Tom Sawyer, Moby Dick and Sherlock Holmes and, finally, to kill every single version of himself there has ever been.

Before you see the Deadpool movie (or even after) I encourage you to read some comics!

Cable & Deadpool Deadpool Corps ‘Deadpool Kills...’ three-arc series

9

ARTS & LITEDITOR - COLM FURLONG

Green Road Review

Open Mic Nights

Review of the Green Road in the wake of its reprinted edition.

Colm Furlong discusses reading prose and poetry aloud

Anne Enright’s The Green Road is a novel which is set in Ireland and covers a time span of roughly twenty five years. It tells the story of the Madigan family; Matriarch Rosaleen and her four children Hanna, Dan, Constance and Emmet. Ultimately, the novel is a character study, which examines the fragmented lives of these characters through equally fragmented storytelling as the whole family returns home for one last Christmas in their family home.

The first four chapters of the novel each depict a portion of one of Rosaleen’s children’s lives. They read as separate short stories which invite us into the character’s life, and deliver backstory and exposition to the reader. Enright shows the reader Hanna as a young girl in the family home, Dan who is living in New York and coming to grips with life as a gay man, Constance in Co. Limerick who undergoes a cancer check-up, and finally Emmet and his life in Mali. These stories act as set up for the children of Rosaleen, and do little aside from this to actually advance the main story of the novel. From here, the main plot of the novel makes its first appearance, as Rosaleen, bitter in her old age, writes to each of her children to invite them home for one last Christmas. The story carries on from there, as the family reunites and Enright delivers the reader a look at how the

Madigans spend their Christmas.

Enright’s narrative style is marked by exposition. The plot moves forward at a slow pace, with the author instead choosing to focus on backstory and setup. The first four chapters are an experiment in storytelling- the author herself has said that “each is told in a different tradition of writing.” Once the main plot begins, the exposition of the setting is interwoven with the narrative as it progresses, rather than stalling it as it does in the opening four chapters. Enright further experiments with narrative voice; with the style changing dependent on whom the chapter of the novel follows. Dan’s chapters read differently to Emmet’s, Hanna’s to Constance’s and so forth. Through use of free indirect style, Enright often allows her characters to tell the reader part of the story by removing authorial flagging. An example of free indirect style in the novel is as follows: “Foolish Alice, with her helpless goodness, her idiotic lack of guile.” The story is predominantly told in the third person; and the point of view really works in the plot’s favour. I do not believe the first person perspective would have worked as well.

While the story revolves largely around Rosaleen and her actions, there is no one character truly

identified as a protagonist. Each of the characters is given equal time, and it is not the story of a single character; rather it is the story of five. This allows Enright to display her flair for character creation, as each of the Madigan clan is unique and different from the other, while also retaining some familial traits. Character is one of, if not the most important thing in fiction, and Enright certainly has an interesting cast of characters in this novel.

Anne Enright’s The Green Road is one for those who are fans of so called “literary fiction”. It does not play to a particular genre, rather it focuses on dissecting the lives of its characters with each and every word. It is an examination of multiple aspects of the human condition. As stories go, it is unconventional. The Green Road was nominated for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, and has been the recipient of high praise. The novel is published by Jonathan Cape, and it retails at €15. It is 310 pages in length.

The idea for this article came to me off the back of a recent Ó Bhéal open mic poetry night I attended. Several of my course-mates were reading some of their work; some of them for the first time. They did a great job.

Many people wonder how beneficial these open mic nights are, and if it is worth it to go and read some of your work. Anybody who has ever done so would tell you yes, it is.

One of the greatest benefits of reading your work aloud, is that it is a great way to see how it reads and sounds. You can find out what parts of your work flow nicely, and what parts come across as slightly clunky when read aloud. You will see where it reads smooth, and where you stumble over too many words, or awkward phrasing or punctuation. It is a lot different to reading on the screen or on the page, and it will greatly help with further drafts.

Another wonderful benefit is that reading aloud allows you to gauge the reaction to the work. At the Ó Bhéal night, there were numerous oohs and aahs and chuckles as the audience listened to the words of the poets. Reading aloud to an audience allows you to see what parts of your prose or poetry work, which parts they get. It also allows you to see which parts do not quite work and fall flat. Having an audience react well to something you read aloud is a great feeling.

Pride. There is something to be said for you, as a writer, being proud enough of something you create to share it with others by reading it aloud to them. It shows that you truly believe it is worth others hearing. If you allow that pride to come through in a reading, the audience will feel it and be all the more appreciative.

A further benefit is that the people who attend these open mic nights are always people appreciative of craft. They are respectful of everyone who reads, because they are respectful of the craft of writing. They enjoy hearing the differing voices of each and every writer who gets up there. Most of them are writers themselves.

As an audience member, the open mic nights are a wonderful opportunity for you to go out and experience some fine writing by some of the country’s up and coming writers. You experience a huge variety of writing, as well as a huge variety of voices.

Open mic nights are a wonderful experience for writers of any kind, and also for anyone who loves to read. I would highly re c om me nd heading out to one of Cork’s many open mic nights. There are n u m e r o u s different ones, and they all feature some great writing.

10

INTERVIEWwith...John Kovalic

John Kovalic is a world renowned cartoonist who famously does the design for games like Munchkin. He is co-founder and co-owner of Out of The Box Games, a company that makes party games such as ‘Apples to Apples’, which is a game primarily built around arguing with your friends. John also writes and illustrates the comic ‘Dork-Tower’ among many others, as well as having his work appearing in The New York Times and Washington post.

Colm Lundberg is a irish games designer, and has recently released his first game Love 2 Hate. Both of these men are seminal parts of the modern Irish Gaming scene, and were recently in Cork for Warpcon, and Colm graciously allowed us to sit in on his interview with John.

(Editors note: The interview published below has been edited for length, but the unedited version will appear on our website, UCCExpress.ie, at a later date)

Colm: Let’s start by addressing a very serious question that I think is on everybody’s minds and we need an answer to, what is your obsession with Cork and WARPCON and why do you keep coming back?

John Kovalic: Because I keep being asked (Laughs)

Colm: That’s a fair comment, so it’s our fault is what you’re saying,

JK: It is totally your fault, it’s a delightful convention I love it, this is close to my 10th year, a couple of years off here and there but I pretty sure I’m in double digits at this point and this is one of my favourite places to be on the entire planet, at Warpcon with all of the gamers here, at this point in time kind of everyone feels like a friend

Colm: Ahh that’s very sweet we like to think of you as one of ours, not

like the British think Saoirse Ronan is one of theirs, but like an adopted Irish person. I think I’m correct in saying you started off kind of cartooning and I suppose a little bit about that and then how you made the jump into gaming. How you got all from cartooning into gaming.

JK: I’ve been a gamer since I was 15/16, I was into role playing when I was in school, D&D and traveller but I’ve always been a cartoonist, when I was in school I was doing comic strips for our school newspaper, then when I got to college I started doing comics for the college newspaper and then for the city newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, I was also doing some feature writing for the paper at the time. I feel out of gaming a little bit since college, I didn’t have a regular gaming group and I was starting to get back into it and I convinced the newspaper to send me to GENCON

which was just about two hours away in Milwaukee at the time to cover it for the paper, and going to GENCON every year to cover it for the paper I met a bunch of people from the gaming industry and started doing some cartoons for a couple of the small but still important magazines and I just sort of tripped into it and found myself in a position where my hobbies have become my job.

Colm: That’s a pretty good place to be in, so obviously we can’t talk about your connection to gaming and not talk about the big one, I know you started off doing some work for Illuminati New World order with Steve Jackson games,

JK: that was probably my first professional gaming illustration work,

Colm: and you did a few cards after that?

JK: I did twenty cards for the first release, I’d been doing cartoons for the Steve Jackson game called Murphy’s rules which was a long running feature in Pyramid magazine which sort of pointed out some of the odder quirks of some of the roles and the games that were out there at the time in a humorous way and hilarity ensued.

Colm: No no, I think your style and your cartooning is so well known as a style now, when you go back to your (Illuminati New World Order) cards now, and I’m a huge fan and always have been and I really hope they re-release it, and you can look at the cards now and it’s very hard to equate what you do now with what that is, and so linking on to steve Jackson games, we have to talk about, good lord, the massive beast

11

INTERVIEWthat is munchkin, how many cards have you done so far for Munchkin?

JK: at this point it is well over 5000,

Colm: Wow

JK: and that’s over a 15 year period and equates roughly to about a card a day, over that entire time,

Colm: That’s insane, but you haven’t had the luxury of doing a card a day

JK: (Laughs) sometimes the deadlines are tighter than other days, I think there are some days when I’ll have to try and get 12-15 cards out (Colm: wow) I don’t like those days, buts that just the reality of working in the game business, one of the nice things about my newspaper background is that you learn to work quickly and you learn to respect deadlines.

Colm: That’s good, of course it’s not only the cards that you do but the cover art for the boxes and the ancillary art,

JK: I love doing the covers because those I will allow myself proper time for, and though they tend to be large pieces, they tend to be quite a bit more detailed than I could possibly hope to put on a card given the time constraints so they are a lot of fun to do

Colm: and that’s not counting the millions of cards you so graciously do for people at games Conventions when they come up to you at GAMECON, I’m sure you’re cursing the day Steve Jackson released blank munchkin cards.

JK: yes I’m actually cursing the worst day I’ve ever had which is a first world cartoonist problem, I’m sure there are a thousand cartoonists would swap their problems with mine. In Germany at the giant Spiel convention, our publisher had produced hundreds of blank cards as the promotional give-away, so I was supposed to do 2 one hour signings a day for this convention, they had also nobody stopping the line,

Colm: and you’re too nice too

JK: well, I’m very grateful for people who buy products that I produce, which puts food on my family’s table, it’s very humbling to have someone enjoy your work so much that they would like to have it signed and de-valued

Colm: We should talk about your games designing background, and the first title that springs to mind is Apples to Apples, and again moving from illustrator to games designer, and how did that emerge from that?

JK: Well Apples to Apples is just one of those once in a lifetime phenomenon, I got the chance to join a company in Madison Wisconsin called Out of The Box publishing because the founder of the company Mark Osterhaus, the majority holder in the company was a gamer and he had seen my illustrations in illuminati new world order, and so I was brought on board to illustrate one game which they were releasing which they had designed called Bosworth, which was a lovely game, if you can ever find a copy, it’s a chess variant, a terrific chess variant,

and the company was hired to produce the chess variant, it’s a very limited market, but we did not know this, so we produced this delightful game it sold reasonably well for a chess variant, and the first convention we went to was the Origins convention in Columbus Ohio, a relatively large gaming convention in the US and a fellow brought a game to us called apples and oranges and we were not looking for another game to publish but one of our publishers arranged for a meeting with Matt Kirby, the designer of Apples and Oranges after the show floor closed, and the original game was this big sprawling trivial pursuit type game, with bells and whistles and there’s this one little part in the game where you had these cards in your hand and it’s very close to what Apples to Apples is now.

Colm: so it was a sub-part of the game?

JK: yes it was the 5th part of the game, and that’s the point when mark said, wait this is the game, and we picked it up and moved to another table and spent hours playing with these little cards and we were blown away it was absolutely unlike anything we’d ever seen before in gaming.

Colm: yeah and it kind of set the base for those word based interaction type games,

JK: exactly, it absolutely changed gaming, and that’s nice to have something you’re associated with, and so we out of the box developed the game, my main contribution coming up with the flavour text for the cards because early on, because the others involved wanted to keep all the cards simple so that everybody knew what they were playing, what the nouns were, who the people we were referencing were, I thought that could have been a very dull game at that

point, and I just suggested that we put in flavour text, being a Magic the Gathering player, at the bottom and as it turns out we had a game that changed gaming, as up to that point most party games were trivia games, and that’s nothing against trivia games, I’ve played many a game of trivial pursuit and enjoyed it, but I think Apples to Apples actually changed the gaming landscape for good.

Colm: I think it did and I think it made a good cross-over into mainstream, the format, the feel for the game, it started games like Cards against Humanity which is iniquitous, I don’t think that would have existed without Apples to Apples. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, it brought in this new generation of party games, and this generation of let’s sit in a bar or a café and break out something fun for 15-20mins, half an hour, I absolutely think that’s a huge legacy, and as you say nice to be a part of.

Colm: and on the writing I hope it’s okay to mention you said you were branching

into another form of writing, you’re talking about maybe a children’s

book?

JK: yeah I’ve written one book, looking for

a publisher now, called, that’s not how mom does

it,(Colm: you heard it here first he’s looking for

a publisher) and I’ve got a couple more in the works, in fact I’ve come up with another one on the flight

over here, so I quickly sketched it down on the flight from Madison

to Detroit, before flying to Europe,

Colm: probably the closest thing you get to down time these days,

JK: it’s nice once I get on the plane no one can call me, no one can interrupt or no email, except they have that now. It’s wonderful I get to do all these different things for a living, , it’s unbelievable I hope never to take it for granted I can just sit down at a table, create something and somebody’s going to pay me for it.

Colm: In a way we feel lucky to have you, as a hobby, you’re a really nice guy and what you bring to gaming is unique in a very good way and the development of the games you’ve brought us and your accessibility is a gift you’ve brought to all of us,

JK: Thanks you, very much

(For the full interview go to UCC Express.ie)

12

MUSIC

With the annual Brit Awards taking place on February 24th , Zoe Fitzpatrick takes a look at the prestige of the Brits, a long celebrated awards ceremony which predicts the risings stars of the popular music scene.

The big event for music in February is, of course, the Brit Awards. This is a highly anticipated event, and this year’s show is set to be no different with Adele, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Coldplay among the acts already announced to be performing.

Nominations for the Brit Awards this year have been what was expected for the most part. The standard of the Best Female Solo Artist is impeccably high, with Adele, Florence Welch and Amy Winehouse receiving nominations. Adele is a favourite for this category, following the phenomenal success of her album “25”, and is also predicted to clean up in the 3 other categories in which she was nominated. Meanwhile in the “best solo male” category nominations go to Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, and Jamie XX among others, a more difficult category to predict but with Mark Ronson being a general favourite to win. Another close category will be “Best British Group”, with One Direction, Coldplay and Blur all being among the nominees. Some other notable nominations are Justin Bieber and The Weeknd for “International Male Solo Artist”, Lana Del Rey and Ariana Grande for “International Female Solo Artist”, and the high standard of the International Group nominations with “Eagles of Death Metal”, “Major Lazer”, and “U2” all receiving nominations.

In the past the Brit awards has been known for the success of winners following this award. The record for the most Brit Awards won is currently held by Robbie Williams, with five wins as a member of Take That and 12 as a solo artist. “International Male Solo Artist” was one three times by rap giant Kanye West in 2006, 2007 and 2008. One of the most notable winners of the Brit Awards has been The Beatles, who won Best British Band at the 1977 Inaugural Brit Awards, as well as “Best Album” for Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In that year they shared an “Outstanding Contribution to Music” award with L.G. Wood. Also in 1977 Bohemian Rhapsody had a colossal win for “Best British Single of the last 25 years”, and Queen went on to later win an “Outstanding Contribution to Music” Award.

A highly anticipated category is always “Best Breakthrough Act”, with the success enjoyed by past winners. The most recent winner of this award was Sam Smith in 2015, who has since received acclaim for his Bond song ‘Writing’s on the Wall.” Lady Gaga also won this award in 2010, with her highly successful album “The Fame”. This title has been awarded to JLS, the Arctic Monkeys, Duffy, and the Scissor Sisters among many who have all gone on to have incredibly successful careers. This year’s nominees include Indie rock band “Wolf Allce”, singer James Bay, electronic group Years & Years, Catfish and Jess Glynne. Whoever wins this category is sure to go on to great things, as many others have. The favourite to win is James Bay, but competition will

certainly be stiff from Wolf Alice.

The Brit Awards has not been without its controversy, and this year is no exception. Just days ago Lily Allen was seen taking to Twitter to rant about the corruption of the nomination and voting, and lack of Grime and rap nominees, saying that the problem is in the fact that “the voting academy consists of 1000 music industry figures” who would not benefit from independent artists winning awards. Voters at big labels are known to vote tactically for their own labels’ artists, so as not to put other labels’ artists at an advantage - regardless of the talent of the artists. Allen goes on to state that if Skepta or Stormzy won, or even nominated it would pose a direct threat to big industry officials, as well as questioning “who’s ego would get massaged?” were these artists to win. Grime artist Stormzy also voiced his thoughts, saying that “It was such a great year for grime and underground music... I thought maybe this year it might get celebrated.” With this year’s awards being dominated by mainstream pop artists, however, it does not look like this is going to change any time soon. Nonetheless, it’s definitely going to be an exciting one!

13

MUSIC EDITOR - HOLLY COONEY

One Direction Change RouteWith the announcement of the biggest band in the world taking a well-deserved hiatus from the world of boyband megastardom, Holly Cooney takes a look at what the 1D boys are planning for their time off. Music, golf and fatherhood are among the many things planned for their break so don’t cry just yet as we’ll be seeing a lot more of these boys in 2015.

Alas, the time has come for Simon Cowell’s money making machine to hit the breaks as the One Direction boys take a well-deserved break from screaming girls and yearlong tours. Strangely, unlike Take That’s soul crushing 1996 break up that was so damaging to their legion of teenage fans a helpline was set up, One Direction’s split hasn’t resulted in the mass hysteria imagined by most. The reason is that they’re merely taking a hiatus from the band to focus on other things. With various rumours that the break is permanent the band have refuted such claims and Niall Horan has spoken out saying, “we’re not breaking up, we’re literally taking time out to see our friends and see our family”.

The break first came about when Zayn Malik announced in March last year that he was leaving the band in order to focus on being a “normal 22 year old”. Well, if you consider normal twenty two year olds getting up close and personal with one of the world’s top models mere months after splitting from their fiancés normal then Malik is just your average lad. So far, Zayn’s solo career is making waves, with first single “Pillowtalk” topping the charts in 60 countries across the world and it seems his departure has had an effect on the remaining band members. After a crazy five years Zayn finally admitted One Direction was never for him and the other lads seem to be following suit.

Since the split, the remaining four members have all gone in very different directions. Mick Jagger wannabe, Harry Styles has had some interesting developments over the last week which show that maybe this break is a bit more serious than the boys would have us believe. Styles has always spoken about pursuing a solo career and it seems now is the perfect time for him. To be fair, I reckon he has the talent and attitude needed to make the transition from boy band megastar to a respected musician in his own right, though maybe I’m just brainwashed by his tight pants and luscious locks. Putting One Direction behind him, Styles has signed a solo deal with CAA, leaving 1D’s Modest Management. Rumours have it that he already has some solo tracks written, but we’ll just have to wait and see!

Styles and Malik were always the standout vocalists so it comes as no surprise that they’ve chosen to go down the solo route though I was surprised to hear the egocentric Liam Payne has decided to swap life on stage for the more behind the scenes role of producer. An intelligent move nonetheless as Payne, despite having a decent voice and good song writing abilities is obviously aware he is the rich tea in this packet of tasty treats, with none of

the likeability or rockstar swagger of the others. He does have some solo aspirations as his twitter account shows, with plans to work with Australian producer Will Singe. As well as this Payne is planning to do some songwriting with Zayn Malik and Niall Horan so it seems there’s no bad blood there!

Mullingar boy Horan has some more unusual plans, planning to take some time to chill out back home on the Emerald Isle. A healthy lifestyle seems to be on the cards with the singer saying he wants to do some travelling, around the world and at home, stating he hopes to “rent a cottage somewhere in Ireland or get a caravan”. A keen golfer, Horan also hopes to be a low single figure in golf by 2017. As well as his own personal golfing plans, Horan is rumoured to be setting up a golf agency for talent from Ireland and the UK with Modest Management. Songwriting is still on the cards with plans to keep writing for One Direction’s next album, as well as possible collaborations.

Last but not least band member Louis Tomlinson broke millions of hearts worldwide when he became a father to baby boy Freddie Reign back in January. Probably one of the main reasons for the hiatus, Tomlinson seems to be taking to fatherhood quite well but this isn’t his only plan for the break. Continuing his relationship with mentor Simon Cowell, Tomlinson has a small label imprint and is in the process of forming a new girl band so maybe management is the way forward, following in the steps of another famous Louis.

Only time will tell how successful these individual ventures will be and whether or not the boys will get back together, maybe even all five original members as Malik hasn’t ruled out a reunion with his former bandmates just yet. In the meantime, thanks for the good times and the songs we pretend to hate. As boybands go they’ve been one of the best and I for one am not ashamed to say that I hope to see them back again soon.

END OFTHE ROADCHANGE

DIRECTION

14

FILM & TELEVISIONNetflix Original Seriesby Zoe Fitzpatrick

In recent years there has been a notable shift in how we, as an audience, watch TV. This is primarily due to the development of subscription based streaming services, the most successful of which is Netflix. Netflix has blown competitors Amazon Prime and Hulu out of the water and although there has been many reasons for this, something that has made a huge contribution to their success is their immensely popular original content, the infamous “Netflix Originals”.

Netflix began the development of their original content with political drama “House of Cards.” This series is based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the BBC mini-series which followed. The first season was released on Netflix in 2013. It rose to prominence extremely quickly, with the first season being nominated for 9 Emmy Awards. Since then it has won Golden Globes for “Best Actress: Television Series Drama”, also a record breaking achievement as it was the first web series to win a major acting award. This was the first show to bypass major networks, opting instead to release a whole season at a time meaning viewers could watch it at the pace they chose. All of these firsts have made for an extremely easy and facilitative viewing experience, translating into a major success for Netflix viewership.

Following in the footsteps of “House of Cards”, Jenji Kohan’s “Orange is the New Black”, a comedy series which is set in a women’s prison and is based on a true story w r i t t e n in the

memoirs of Piper Kerman. It was also launched in 2013 and has since produced three highly popular seasons, having been recently renewed for even more. “Orange is the New Black” has also won many awards; from the recent Screen Actor’s Guild award that it received for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble: Comedy Series”, to Uzo Aduba’s (“Crazy Eyes”) Primetime Emmy win in 2015, to Taylor Schilling and Laura Prepon’s 2014 Satellite Award wins for “Best Actress” and “Best Supporting Actress” respectively. “Orange is the New Black” has an extremely diverse cast which has earned it praise among critics. Both the character development and talented cast have made the characters extremely likeable, which puts the focus on who the characters are as people rather than any other aspect of their lives, leading to extreme success in this area.

Some other notable Netflix originals are “Sense8”, and the Netflix adaptations of Marvel’s “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil”. Sci-fi drama “Sense8” was launched in 2015 and has had acclaim in the US, France and Germany. Marvel shows “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil” both debuted with a positive reception in 2015, following different classical superheroes in their bid to save their cities from various v i l l a i n s .

Netflix have also done a deal with Marvel to combine a number of Marvel series, including both “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil” and others yet to launch, in a series called “Defenders”. This means that when this show launches it will have a built in viewership from the other Netflix Marvel shows - an extremely clever move in attracting ratings.

Another development in the success of Netflix has been creating new seasons of old, popular shows that either ended or were cancelled. They have already released new episodes of “Arrested Development”, featuring the old cast. They have also made new seasons of Amy Sherman Palladino’s “Gilmore Girls” and hit 90s sitcom “Full House” to eagerly awaiting fans of both shows. “Fuller House” echoes the original plot begun in 1987, where widowed D.J.Tanner struggles to cope with raising her children alone. Having the original cast, with the exception of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen on

board has increased the hype surrounding the release of this continuation. The entire cast of “Gilmore Girls” is featuring in the new episodes, a fact which has brought

great excitement with it. These shows will undoubtedly

be extremely

successful for Netflix, and will bring an influx of subscribers who were fans of these shows but aren’t familiar with Netflix already.

One of the main reasons for the success of these shows lie with the company’s use of algorithms. Netflix collects data based on what users choose to watch, but this isn’t just for the purpose of providing a customised feed to each user. They also use this data in coming up with concepts, and writing the shows themselves. For instance, in writing “Orange is the New Black” they used this information to create a comedy show, featuring many strong female leads - which is a very specific idea, however their ability to launch the show directly to a suitable audience, based on their viewing habits, quickly made it a success. This creation of shows for a specific audience has given Netflix an edge on competitors who lack this use of algorithms. This has ultimately made Netflix the most popular streaming service, with millions of subscribers in over 40 countries tuning in to watch what they create.

15

FILM & TVThe Failures and Opportunities of RTÉby Brian Conmy - UCC Express Editor

There are very few things I would consider myself to be proud of. I’m pretty good at Tetris but that very rarely comes up surprisingly. Unlike most people I place no stock in the idea of being proud of where you come from, I’m a Limerick boy and the less said about that the better. Even on a grander scale I don’t take pride in being Irish because to me nationality is such a mundane aspect of someone’s character. Sure how they interact with the environment they grow up in is a very formative process but being Irish rarely means as much as growing up in wealth or poverty, in a religious or non-religious family or even in a sporty or non-sporty environment.

One thing I will always be proud of though is to come from a nation that has produced such amazing works of art. I’m unsure what unique aspect of Irishness has led to the amazing stock of writers, actors, directors, musicians and artists we claim as our own over the generations but there seems to be something in the water. To go back on an earlier comment the one thing about Limerick I do adore is that it acted as the breeding ground of the Rubberbandits, amazing artists in their own right, who have taken so much from the experiences growing up in Limerick at the height of the negative media feedback loop that Limerick developed in my lifetime and theirs.

“...Instead RTÉ consistently rely on the Republic of Telly to churn out another set of unfunny characters to give another new show to...”

And yet as much as we celebrate these amazing artists personally our national broadcaster very rarely seems to do the same. While the Rubberbandits as an example did get some airtime on RTÉ over the years they were rarely given the freedom they deserve to test the boundaries as they commonly do in their work. Instead RTÉ consistently rely on the Republic

of Telly to churn out another set of unfunny characters to give another new show to. For every Savage Eye we have 3 Damo and Ivers, for every Love/Hate there are likely ten rejected shows of equal or greater potential. RTÉ don’t forget, is the network that passed on Father Ted back in the day (editors note: not true) . The greatest Irish TV show of all time wasn’t made by our Irish national broadcaster (editors note: this bit is true). As old an example as this is the same lack of foresight can be seen today in the decisions RTÉ makes.

Think about this, where did you first see Breaking Bad? Maybe 50% of you said you pirated it, 49% said Netflix and 1% of you said TG4. RTÉ somehow didn’t think purchasing the rights to air Breaking Bad before it had become a mainstream hit here was a solid decision. More baffling is why shows like Love/Hate aren’t being shopped to Netflix for streaming outside of Ireland, realistically given the show’s origin and themes there’s every chance it could be a hit in other territories and ultimately bring much needed attention to Ireland as a content creator. Worse still, at least in my eyes, is how risk averse RTÉ seem to be. Why aren’t graduates of filmmaking and other creative courses of third level education immediately scouted to pitch shows or even enter into some kind of programme that produces a number of test shows, a number of which can be aired to decide if the show could find an audience?

“...I remain hopeful that one day should young blood and fresh ideas make their way

into RTÉ that this dream could become a reality...”

Perhaps I’m somewhat biased in having once met and talked with someone who works with talent development in RTÉ, over a few drinks I got some insight into some goings on in RTÉ on one level or another. When I was given a card by this person my brain almost exploded with potential future scenarios of pitching content and

seeing what could happen. Obviously nothing ever came from this encounter sadly, yet still I remain hopeful that one day should young blood and fresh ideas make their way into RTÉ that this dream could become a reality.

Our youth in this country are undervalued severely. So undervalued that most of us will find a better life outside of this island in foreign lands, as is the Irish way it seems. I honestly believe that among us are amazing talents, with ideas and abilities going completely untapped for lack of opportunity. While Youtube and other outlets have meant that finding a niche and building opportunities for yourself are easier than ever this will never take the place of the high level opportunities an organisation like RTÉ could offer. I hold out no real hope that this will happen, sadly, so instead I’ll continue to grumble about the waste of taxpayer money RTÉ are to me as they continue to slip entirely from relevance as they ignore the encroaching death of live television and their inability to adapt to the times.

EDITOR - OLIVIA BROWN