Many would find it hard to see a correlation between Saturday morning cartoons, author J.R.R. Tolkien and the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

But for Caleb Boteilho, these things served as inspiration for writing his own comics, a hobby he started in 2008.

As adjunct professor of Japanese at Elon, Boteilho said he derives his passion for writing from his study of various languages.

"Language is the biggest thing to me," he said. "I find writing more interesting solely because of my interest in language."

Boteilho was inspired to write more during his time in graduate school, but his original interest started as a child when he wrote fantastical short stories that often took place in a J.R.R. Tolkien type of setting reminiscent of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"The stories I wrote when I was little always involved my youngest sister," he said. "They were always about her being a wizard and getting back at her older siblings for teasing her."

These mythical themes were also supported by Boteilbo's interest in Dungeons & Dragons when he was young, which he said inspired the animation for the comics.

Watching Saturday morning cartoons every weekend also influenced him, directly contributing to the idea for his first web comic, "Cereal Killer."

"There were a lot of commercials for cereal (on Saturday morning), and every cereal had a different character," Boteilho said. "I grew up seeing them every weekend, so the idea of a 'cereal' serial killer just kind of came to me. Also, I'm a linguist, so the title sounded fun because of the play on words."

"Cereal Killer" is one of three fully written Web comics, but Boteilho said he has ideas for about five or six more, and he's currently in the process of setting up a website to publish them.

One of the other completed comics, called "en infierno con el diablo," which translates as "in hell with the devil," involves a character that isn't particularly religious, who dies and encounters deities from different religions in the afterlife.

"It's a comedy, but it's also a philosophical concept," Boteilho said. "Each major religion has its own thing, so the main character is free to run around and experience them all."

Although Boteilho said his writing is for fun, he plans to publish his Web comics online and would always be excited to do something more with them.

"If the comics went somewhere, of course I would like to follow through with it," he said. "But it's mainly for myself first and an audience second."

The only thing that Boteilho is missing at the moment is an artist to draw for the comics, and he said he's looking for anyone who enjoys art to help him.

"The stuff I'm doing is very simple, so it would probably take a good artist about 15 or 20 minutes to draw," he said. "Plus, it's a dual game, and you always get the best results by working with others."

Whether it's writing or drawing, Boteilho said he thinks having hobbies is especially important for students to have interests that are non-school related.

"If you do something for school, you immediately get something back," he said. "But stuff like this lets you go after things you enjoy, even if you don't necessarily get anything out of it."

Boteilho also said these hobbies help develop drive and motivation for a particular interest, just as his comic writing has done for him across the years.

"It can go somewhere, or it can go nowhere," he said. "But it's all about the fun and it keeps us going."

Any interested artists or readers can contact Boteilho at cboteilho@elon.edu.