Lt. Col. Charles Whittlesey, who commanded the famed Lost Battalion of World War I, is the subject of the latest graphic novel in the Association of the U.S. Army’s series on recipients of the nation’s highest award for valor.

Medal of Honor: Charles Whittlesey tells of how Whittlesey led more than 500 men in an advance against the German line during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Surrounded by the much larger enemy force and cut off from their division, Whittlesey and his men overcame a lack of supplies and mounting casualties to hold out for five days before reinforcements finally arrived.

“This book is being dedicated to artist Karl Moline, who recently died at far too young an age,” said Joseph Craig, director of AUSA’s Book Program. “He and his fellow artists have honored the legacy of Charles Whittlesey, whose own story was a mixture of heroism and tragedy. We are proud to share Karl’s final work with the world.”

Moline, 51, worked on the pencils, inks and cover for Medal of Honor: Charles Whittlesey before he died Sept. 11. He also provided the art for two previous AUSA graphic novels, honoring Dr. Mary Walker, a Civil War surgeon, and Pvt. Jacob Parrott, the first soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

A veteran artist, Moline had worked on Supergirl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Rogue. To learn more about his life and work, click here.

Medal of Honor: Charles Whittlesey is available here.

AUSA launched its Medal of Honor graphic novel series in October 2018. This is the 24th novel in the series. The digital graphic novels are available here.

A paperback collection of the four graphic novels released this year will be available at AUSA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in October.

A Harvard Law School graduate who had a successful legal career, Whittlesey took leave from his firm and joined the Army in May 1917, one month after the United States entered World War I.

Assigned to the 77th Division’s 308th Infantry, Whittlesey was shipped to France.

By September 1918, Whittlesey was promoted to major and given command of 1st Battalion, 308th Infantry, just in time to participate in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the largest, bloodiest American offensive of the war, according to an account by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

On Oct. 2, 1918, Whittlesey and his men were ordered to participate in an allied attack on German fortifications in the Meuse-Argonne region. The Americans faced fierce resistance but were ordered to advance anyway.

Nearing their objective, the soldiers dug in. When the sun rose the next morning, it became clear that they were surrounded and cut off from the rest of their division. With no supplies or rations, Whittlesey and his men were on their own as the Germans launched attack after attack.

Whittlesey maintained his position and held his command together “in the face of superior numbers of the enemy,” according to his Medal of Honor citation. On the fourth day, Whittlesey received from the enemy a written proposal to surrender, “which he treated with contempt, although he was at the time out of rations and had suffered a loss of about 50 percent in killed and wounded of his command and was surrounded by the enemy,” the citation says.

Allied reinforcements finally arrived after five days.

For his leadership, Whittlesey was awarded the Medal of Honor on Dec. 24, 1918.

The fame of the Lost Battalion captured the public’s imagination, but Whittlesey never spoke of his experiences. In November 1921, he served as an honorary pallbearer for the first Unknown soldier to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Two weeks later, he went to see a revival of the 1919 movie that featured many of the men involved in the battle.

The next day, he boarded the British steamship SS Toloa bound for Cuba. On Nov. 26, 1921, Whittlesey succumbed to the trauma of his wartime experiences and jumped overboard and drowned.

Each AUSA graphic novel is created by a team of professional comic-book veterans. The script for Medal of Honor: Charles Whittlesey was written by Chuck Dixon, whose previous work includes Batman, The Punisher and The ‘Nam.

The pencils, inks and cover were by Moline, and the inks and cover also were by Geof Isherwood, who has worked on The ’Nam, G.I. Joe and Conan the Barbarian. Colors were by Peter Pantazis, a veteran of Justice League, Superman and Black Panther; and the lettering is by Troy Peteri, who has worked on Spider-Man, Iron Man and X-Men.