American Based in St. Louis, Tim Lane is an acclaimed illustrator and graphic novelist whose work explores the dark, melancholic underbelly of the American dream. A lecturer at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Lane has spent decades cultivating an "anachronistic" style that draws heavily from the golden age of 1950s pulp magazines, film noir, and the intricate linework of masters like Charles Burns and Will Eisner. Lane is best known for his sprawling "Great American Mythological Drama," a series of interconnected stories published in his solo anthology Happy Hour in America. His graphic novels, including the Ignatz-nominated Abandoned Cars (2008) and the surreal epic The Lonesome Go (2014), are celebrated for their "nightmarish precision" and their focus on characters wandering through a landscape of diners, jukeboxes, and shifting identities. His fascination with American icons, most notably Steve McQueen, often serves as a centerpiece for his explorations of masculinity and folklore. Beyond his graphic novels, Lane is a prolific freelance illustrator whose "visual problem-solving" has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Wall Street Journal. Whether producing experimental mini-comics like October Burlesque or teaching the next generation of artists, Lane remains dedicated to the "tactile nature of drawing," using simple pen and ink to communicate complex, visceral truths about the human condition.