During my career in publishing, I've been an art director, illustrator, graphic designer, writer, gamer and — last but not least — cartoonist.
Until recently, I was a page designer and illustrator for the late, great Herald-Sun in Durham, North Carolina. (If you'd like to REALLY see how to burn a bridge to your former employer, click here.)
I am currently working for the kick-ass Independent, an alternative weekly, and designing books.
My profile on the site for the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists has this to say about me: "After graduating in 1986 with a degree in Graphic Design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), he drew caricatures at the boardwalk, worked as an animator and wrote material for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. From 1992 to 1997, Trostle was editorial cartoonist for the Sunday Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His cartoons have appeared in 'Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year,' and are part of the permanent collection of the State Museum of Pennsylvania. His design work and illustrations have won multiple awards from both the Pennsylvania and North Carolina Press Associations.
"For most of his career, J.P. has signed his cartoons under the pen name "Jape," a nickname he's had since he was about 6 —the same age, coincidentally, at which he decided he wanted to be a cartoonist. It was only later he discovered it was, like, a real word. You can imagine his disappointment the first time he googled his pen name and discovered it wasn't as unique as he once thought: in addition to being the nickname of dead rock legend J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, Jape shares the title with TWO rock bands, a mathematical software program, the Journal of Australian Political Economy, and —his favorite —an S&M club in Florida."