When Civil Beat heard about a talented young cartoonist with an interest in public affairs and politics, it seemed like a chance to offer our readers another way to look at the news.

This week we welcome Caleb Xavier Hartsfield as a full-time newsroom intern. The recent recipient of an art degree from the University of Hawaii debuts with a cartoon about the Honolulu rail project.

Hartsfield, 25, will draw a couple of cartoons each week, along with an occasional longer comic strip-style piece. You might also see his work popping up on our Facebook page.

“Cartoons are a really good way to engage people,” said Civil Beat Editor Patti Epler. “We’re interested in different forms of storytelling, whether it’s cartooning or podcasting.” (In fact, the first season of “Offshore,” a Civil Beat podcast, debuts Thursday.)

Hartsfield was born and raised in Waipahu, and while his “dream career” is to be a comics artist, he’s also interested in local and national politics.

“Working in a newsroom should expand and inform my work, build my illustration skills and make me a better thinker,” Hartsfield said.

At UH, he drew cartoons for Ka Leo, the student newspaper. One of his cartoons is a national finalist in the Associated Collegiate Press competition.

We learned about Hartsfield from Jay Hartwell, UH faculty advisor for student media.

“I have been advising the student media program at UH for 19 years, and I have seen a lot of talent,” Hartwell wrote in an introductory email. “But for illustrations with thoughtful and provocative content, Caleb X. Hartsfield is probably the best.”

The way Hartsfield tells it, his former faculty advisor didn’t really think of recommending him to Civil Beat until he saw the artist posting comments about public affairs on his Facebook page.

Hartsfield also is a guitarist and singer.

“When I’m not making comics, I’m making posters for concerts in Chinatown, concerts at which I may or may not be perfoming with bands I’m in,” he said.

This represents Civil Beat’s second foray into cartooning. John Pritchett drew cartoons for us in 2013 and 2014.

Hartsfield’s arrival expands the ranks of Civil Beat interns who are recent college graduates or are still in school.

“We want to develop young journalists, and not just writers or photographers,” Epler said. “Caleb should be an interesting addition.”