The Silver Shroud (franchise)



The Silver Shroud was a multimedia franchise featuring the eponymous noir superhero fighting villains in a modern-day Boston. It was popularized as a Galaxy News Radio radio drama that aired in the Boston area before the Great War. It was written by Tina Hopkins for Hubris Comics and Galaxy News Network.

Radio show
The Silver Shroud radio show consisted of 420 episodes (419 regular and one holiday special) written with Tina Hopkins as lead writer. Crossovers with other Hubris properties were very popular, particularly ones in The Unstoppables continuity (for example, the 2071 episode, The Silver Shroud vs. Captain Cosmos).

It also included a number of minor characters, such as the cryonic villain Mister Abominable from Episode 83 or the Shroud's love interest, the Mistress of Mystery, appearing as of Episode 2.

Known episodes

 * Mechanist story arc
 * 1) A Slaying in Scollay Square
 * 2) The Mystery of Mayor Murphy
 * 3) In the Parlor of Mysteries
 * 4) Fat Fahy’s Folly
 * 5) Into the Robot’s Den
 * 6) The Mechanist Unmasked!

TV show
Although the radio show was a staple of Boston popular culture, it lacked appeal outside the city. In order to tap into these markets, Hubris Comics decided to create a television show based on the drama, bringing in Aaron Babowski, a noted television producer, to aid with the shooting.

The work on the show started around October 2077, with Babowski managing to almost instantly alienate Tina Hopkins with his method and the changes he introduced. Babowski made stealth revisions to the shooting script, such as introducing an English butler (Jarvey Blake) for the Silver Shroud. This was one in a long line of alterations that Hopkins believed would alienate the core fans of the series. On October 11, Hopkins involved Vivian O'Dell in her desperate attempt to contain Babowski and his changes. Although O'Dell supported the changes as necessary for the series to get to the small screen, she promised to talk with Babowski.

However, Hubris Comics was more concerned with the general success of the series than retaining their fan base. When Babowski and Evans Richelli managed to convince Claire Redelle to accept a role as the Mistress of Mystery on October 14, they did so without informing Hopkins who they correctly predicted would disapprove of the choice. When Hopkins received the news the following day, she had heavy criticism for the actress who did not fit her image of the Mistress of Mystery. Apart from being a redhead (as opposed to a brunette, as Mistress was envisioned), she had a shrill, waif voice, completely unfit for a character who was supposed to be a confident match for the Silver Shroud. Hopkins instead preferred Shannon Rivers, who voiced the Mistress in the radio series and matched the Mistress' looks. Hopkins threatened to leave the project if the Redelle casting decision stood. O'Dell promised to intercede on Hopkins' behalf, although she would refuse to postpone her honeymoon for a second time to do so, and reached out to Babowski to protest Redelle's casting.

Babowski's response was dismissive, pointing out that the contract with Claire Redelle had already been signed. He also called Shannon Rivers unsuitable for the role due to her age. Peter Shiner, the executive of Hubris Comics, got involved in the project two days later on October 18, backing both Babowski's choice of Redelle for the role and the proposed alterations to the costume. However, he agreed that the Mistress needed to be a brunette and that Redelle's voice was unsuitable for the character, and proposed that the lines be dubbed over by Shannon Rivers in post-production.

Given Hopkins' contract with Hubris was ironclad, Babowski and Richelli knew that they would only get their production choices through if they made her quit of her own accord. They finally succeeded on October 20, 2077 as Babowski downplayed Hopkins' writing experience for radio and continued to sideline Shannon Rivers. This led to Hopkins' quitting, effectively immediately, and accepting an alternate job offer from Manticore.

Babowski's triumph was short-lived as the Great War began a few days later. The TV pilot was never completed.

Appearances
The Silver Shroud franchise appears in Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and its add-on Wild Appalachia and Fallout Shelter Online.

Behind the scenes

 * The Silver Shroud, given his appearance and start as a radio program, is heavily influenced by the radio drama and comic book character the The Shadow. Both characters are stealthy vigilantes with a mysterious demeanor, along with similar costumes, gleaming weaponry (The Shadow's M1911 pistols were named "Silver Heat" in the 1994 film reboot of the character), and catch phrases. The Shadow also has an analogue to Shroud's Mistress of Mystery in the form of his confidante, Margo Lane.
 * The Silver Shroud appears to be based on The Shadow and The Green Hornet. Like the Silver Shroud, they both had popular radio serials and wore a trench coat and fedora.
 * Silver Shroud's Thompson sub-machine gun may be a tribute to World War II hero Mark Tennant, who was nicknamed the 'Green Hornet' by his fellow soldiers based on the radio serial character.
 * When Silver Shroud and Mistress of Mystery are spying on the robot-mobster meeting through the skylight, it is revealed that the creator of these robot-mobsters calls himself The Mechanist, similar to the Fallout 3 and Automatron add-on character, the Mechanist.