Many students know Arthur Lyon as the in-school suspension teacher. However, he has also had a unique career as an illustrator.

Lyon has always been interested by comics. He grew up reading and learning about Greek mythology, so superheroes seemed like a natural extension. As he grew, he attempted to pursue a career in penciling comics, essentially drafting comics. One of his friends was getting a lot of work as a penciler and offered Lyon a job as a colorist because he knew of Lyon’s skills with Photoshop. Lyon pursued work as a colorist for several years until he was able to quit his job to work as a full time colorist for nine more years.

Lyon has worked on many projects over the years, including many comics from the two leaders of the comic book scene, DC and Marvel. He has worked on two award winning projects, “Top 10: The Forty-Niners” and “Global Frequency Issue 12.” The former received the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album of 2005 and the latter, the Eisner Award for Best Single Issue of 2007.

For those interested in pursuing a career in comics, Lyon has some advice. He said that networking is key, and, to succeed, students need to be prepared to go to events and to meet with artist’s and companies.

“It’s a lot of work. You have to be able to meet deadlines and know how to work fast,” Lyon said.

He also advised students who hope to have a career in comics to be flexible, to work with your artist, and to be able to color in a lot of different styles.

Lyon is currently working on a comic book series with a friend of his called “Solution Squad” and plans to continue working on comics in the future.