JUNGLE BOOK

Marvel Comics will chronicle the last eight years of the Vietnam War from a grunt’s perspective with “The Nam,” a monthly comic book due in late August, written by a Viet vet.

The saga, with an initial press run of 400,000, will be “realistic,” focusing on the 23rd Mechanized Infantry Division, according to Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. But not too realistic. While characters will change through the years because of death, capture, etc., grunt language and drug use will be toned down, since the audience will be the same as that for Marvel’s popular “GI Joe” series.

Doug Murray, a radar specialist (eventually staff sergeant) who fought in the Tet Offensive, will write from his experiences, plus an extensive newspaper file. The artist (Michael Golden) is an authority on wartime hardware, and the editor is an ex-GI. The books will also be fact-checked by the Army Information Office.