At the time, Hama was the editor of Savage Tales. Savage tales was a revival of an action/adventure anthology book that had war stories, space battles, western gunfights, etc. Hama reached out Murray and asked him to do a couple of Viet Nam stories, but to do it from a foot soldier’s perspective; to use his own experiences to bring a sense of realism to the stories.

The first story, which appeared in Savage Tales #1, was titled “5th to the 1st - The ‘Nam 1967”. Written by Murray and pencils and inks by Golden. The second story, titled “5th to the 1st – The Sniper” appeared in issue #4. Both stories revolved around the same unit, but there wasn’t a central character or any real continuity to the stories. There was a third story in the 5th to the 1st series, titled Tunnel Rat. All were penciled and inked by Golden. The Tunnel Rat story actually appeared in the Issue #9 of The ‘Nam, and the original art to the story was broken up and sold at a HA auction some years ago.

After The Sniper, then editor Jim Shooter approached Hama and asked him to create a new title; The ‘Nam. In fact, as the story goes, Shooter took a mock up of a GI Joe cover with the title “The Nam” on it, and asked Hama to give him a proposal. The book Murray proposed had to be within the guidelines of the comic code, which meant not addressing drug use or swearing, and Murray wanted to stay away from politics and keep the book in an almost real time, so that the reader got to experience a tour of duty along with the main character. In fact, each story came with a glossary to explain some of the terms used by the characters.

Jorge Khoury, contributor to CBR.com in an article written in 2008 summed it up best when he said “The ‘Nam” handles the very sensitive subject of the controversial Vietnam War with confidence and morality while never being preachy. From the fresh-faced draftees to the Vietnamese citizens, the fair and objective scripts by Murray richly chronicled all sides with tremendous honesty and insight. “The ‘Nam” isn’t a story about right or wrong, it wasn’t a pro-war or anti-war fable, but an involving tale about human character and the obstacles man faces in war.”

In terms of art, Michael Golden was set to jump to DC to take over Batman when he was approached by Hama. In the interview with Khoury, Golden recalled, “Well, the original premise of the book was that it was a historical representation of the war, as opposed to sort of like Sgt. Rock, where everything was fictionalized, at best. And I guess that that’s what drew me to it in the sense that it wasn’t going to be just a war book. It was historical representation.”

Golden stayed on as penciler for the first year, with Armando Gil (who also inked Golden on the wonderful Avengers Annual #10), Pepe Moreno, Wayne Vasant, Bob McLeod, Bob Camp and John Beatty handling the inking chores. Golden left the book after that first year. The ‘Nam proved more popular than anyone expected, lasting till issue 84. Murray left pretty early on when a new editor decided to bring the book into the Marvel universe, and not continue the real time pace of the book.

So, here we are. I’ve been looking for the right Golden piece from this run, and I now have something really special. The link below takes you to the complete six page story of the “5th to the 1st - The Sniper”. Pencils and inks by Golden. Not to diminish any of the work by Gil or Beatty, or any of the other inkers on the run, but Golden’s inks over his pencils are just amazing. This story was clearly important to Michael. The detail in the pages is spectacular, and a great example of a great artist in his prime.

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