Webcomic / Semi-Auto Semla

Clockwise: Julia Keiser, Zila la Roja, Lilja Trevaine, Francois Chevalier and Raggamuffin Amelie

Semi-Auto Semla (SAS for short) is a currently ongoing webcomic being produced by DeviantArt users Eio-Eio-Eio and Caocaothedeciever, with art from DAKuroihoshi. Originally released exclusively there, it has since been moved to its own website. Initially launched during fall 2015, it has as of this writing finished its opening volume, covering the first nine chapters, and completed up to chapter twelve of the second volume, for a total of twenty-one chapters released. Alongside that are multiple spin-off comics covering previous events, other parts of the world and annual Christmas Specials.

The comic is described by its creators as a blend of comedy and action, with a particular focus of noir and pulp themes. Though having its fair share of fanservice, the comic has been noted for its diverse and colorful cast of characters that contribute greatly to its ongoing story. The comic is set in a Constructed World in the fictional port city of Beistad (A Hong Kong-expy) and chronicles the adventures and daily life of Julia Keiser, an officer of the Beistad Colonial Police. A routine parking violation turns out to involve a kidnapped heiress, a trunk full of money and more gangsters than you can shake a stick at. Can Julia rescue the kidnapped heiress and catch the culprits before all hell breaks loose in the peaceful city?

As noted above, the comic has one foot firmly planted in the fanservice side of things, primarily of the Damsel in Distress and Bound and Gagged variety. At the same time, the comic's creators have made clear their intent to make the comic a flavourful and fun ride that would stand on its own even without these elements. This is noted in its cast having an unusually high count of action girls. From the towering Zila la Roja to the tiny but sneaky Raggamuffin Amelie, the characters are a far cry from the usual Damsel in Distress.

The comic is currently being funded via Patreon. The creators have stated that they will continue to produce comics for as long as their funding lasts.

An incomplete Characters' page is currently under construction.

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This webcomic provides examples of:

• Action Girl: As noted above, they're all over the place. Basically any named woman, and even some extras, is badass in some way or another.
• Affably Evil:
  • Francois, as he is only doing what he's doing to cover a debt he owns to powerful and dangerous people, so he kidnapped Lilja for ransom, the thing is that Lilja was taken away from him by Zila la Roja and needs to recover her. in fact, he's so affable that it's a stretch to call him evil. When the Mi Mi Mao club starts to burn because of Amelie's hijinks, he chooses to save all the innocent bystanders that ended up Bound and Gagged because of his schemes, even though he has to let the money burn because of it.
  • Outside of his habit of tying up unwanted snoops and leaving them suspended a few hours to teach them a lesson, Sisu is rather friendly and reasonable for a mobster. He even agrees to help Julia find François. However, several of his dialogues show that he can be violent when he has to, he just chooses to not do it when it can be avoided.
  • Jorgen, the hitman sent to kill François, has a Face of a Thug, but he's also surprisingly polite with the Innocent Bystander he tied up and gagged to prevent from interfering and doesn't actually harm her. He's also sorry for wreaking havoc in her place while chasing François.
  • Lilja Trevaine has shades of this when dealing with guests (especially if they are female).
• All There in the Manual: The purchasable side comics cover a lot of background information about the world's history and the characters.
• Ancient Conspiracy: A downplayed example. The Trevaine's aren't exactly ancient, but their family is pretty old and they run Beistads legal and illegal enterprises.
• Apologetic Attacker: Julia, when she knocks out a Mi Mi Mao employee and steals her outfit in order to infiltrate the club, before leaving her Bound and Gagged in her undies in a trunk.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: François Chevalier's known crimes include identity theft, kidnapping, larceny, extortion, illegal trafficking, piracy, LITERAL piracy and ''reckless use of duct tape''.
• Author Appeal: The pulp Damsel in Distress influence.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Later chapters reveal that Lilja Trevaine is more than an innocent victim of a kidnapping as she's a Mafia Princess trying to secure her family's power against another criminal syndicate (while using Julia as a pawn), and a Depraved Homosexual who enjoys inflicting non-consensual bondage on unwilling women.
• Blood Knight: Zila la Roja's idea of fun is cutting up a Worthy Opponent with her machete.
• Blue Blood: The Trevaine family.
• Bound and Gagged: As staple of the comic's pulp influence, ladies trussed up and in peril come up quite a lot. Usually played up for fan-service. For instance, when the Beistad Colonial Police raids the Iron Tiger Tournament at the end of Volume 2, all the female attendants are ziptied hands-behind-back and tape gagged while the men are just cuffed.
• Broken Bird: Defied by Amelie. Instead of toughening up due to her rough childhood, she went completely crazy.
• Butt-Monkey: Francois Chevalier, due to his own actions and bad luck, can never catch a break.
  • Megan as well, since all her customers insist on leaving her Bound and Gagged
• The Cameo: Original Characters from different artists make cameos here and there.
  • In Volume 2, many female fighting game characters (Chun-Li, Cammy, Mai Shiranui, Ayane, Asuka Kazama among others) appear to participate in an underground tournament, only to be Bound and Gagged by Amelie.
• The Cartel: The Estrella de la Manaan, being a powerful crime syndicate from a Latin America Fantasy Counterpart Culture. Unlike most examples, however, they focus on gun running and other violent crime rather than drugs.
• City of Adventure: Beistad, since it is ridden with crime lords, bounty hunters and eccentric figures.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Amelie. Her character bio notes that she's a "crazy, fun-loving punk that either breaks, steals or blows up anything and everything. Seeing as she’s not the sharpest tool in the drawer, it’s lucky that she has Megan to count on.".
• Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: Of the criminal variety. By this point, we have the Trevaine family hiring hackers and using the police for their war against the Estrella de la Manan, with the Yakuza and the the Suomenajoikara looking on from the sidelines, with Julia in the centre of it all.
• Constructed World: The setting of the comic has a completely different geography and history from ours but still has plenty of nations and cultures similar to ours.
• Covers Always Lie: In almost all the chapter covers, Julia is seen Bound and Gagged with someone else even when it doesn't happen in the chapter itself.
• Covert Pervert: Amelie is shown to be this and doesn't hide it well...
• Cowboy Cop: Though a mild example (and lacking anything remotely similar to a firearm), Julia plays a bit fast and loose with the rules in her pursuit of the Trevaine Kidnapping case.
• Crapsaccharine World: Beistad is one, to some extent. On the surface, it's a thriving city, full of colourful people and fanservice. However, it's also plagued with organized crime, and the police can barely do anything to contain the criminal syndicates due to the general corruption of the society. For instance, the beginning of Season 3 reveals that at least three mob bosses captured during the Iron Tiger Tournament have already been released from custody not too long afterwards, and are conducting their illegal businesses as if nothing happened. Though the trope is downplayed due to the fact that the life of the average citizen of the town doesn't seem that bad... as long as they don't get involved in the shaenigans of the criminal gangs or of the main characters, in which case they are most likely to end up Bound and Gagged.
• Culture Chop Suey: Beistad has (inhales deeply)... Swedish cuisine and some names, mostly French names, some pseudo-Chinese citizens, Yakuza, Russian Mafia's Fantasy Counterpart Culture and an African/Latin American-esque cartel. And the general feel of the place is closest to Hong Kong.
• Damsel in Distress: Lilja Trevaine's kidnapping sets off the events of the story. Nearly all the female characters get a turn at being this, but they usually escape by themselves.
• Demoted to Extra: Julia and the Colonial Police have little to no screentime (pagetime?) in Volume 3 since it focuses in various criminal and secret factions trying to screw each other.
• Depraved Homosexual: Lilja is revealed to be this in Volume 2. She enjoys inflicting non-consensual bondage on unwilling women, such as Coral (a kidnapped secretary who worked for Dominica) or Julia.
• Didn't Think This Through: Short-sightedness is basically Lilja's Fatal Flaw. In fact, the entire story began because she didn't think that when dealing with criminals she could be double-crossed. The best example occurs during the Iron Tiger Tournament Arc. She plans to get rid of Dominica Diaz and other mob bosses by tipping the BCP off, having them raid the building where the illegal fight tournament is taking place to arrest them all. However, first, she didn't anticipate that she may be caught too if the BCP showed up earlier than she anticipated, as she's also supposed to attend to the Iron Tiger Tournament. Second, more importantly, she didn't realize that, as the most powerful criminal syndicate of Beistad, her own family was the one who benefitted the most from the money generated by the Tournament.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Lady Obsidian, the Mi Mi Mao performer whom Amelie mugs for her outfit and leaves bound and gagged in a trunk, already appears earlier on a poster in Sisu's room and Megan's pub. Ironically, she's supposed to be a mistress of escape.
• Evil Versus Evil: The entire conflict between the Trevaine family and the Estrella de Manan Cartel is portrayed as this. Both sides are criminal syndicates fighting for the control of Beistad's underbelly, while Julia is caught in the crossfire.
• Expanded Universe: Team Husman has made a huge backstory for the setting and characters and they sell comics set before the events of the story and a World Guide.
• The Faceless: Dominica Diaz, the head of the Estella crime syndicate in Beistad, has her face perpetually in shadow. Until Chapter 16 of the second part of the webcomic, in which she's finally revealed... to be a rather pretty woman.
• Failure Hero: Julia is a downplayed case. She's certainly not incompetent, and she does manage to score victories. However, as far as fighting the main antagonists is concerned, she has a near-complete string of failures. When given proofs of the Trevaines' wrong-doings, admittedly from a shady source, she commits the mistake of directly confronting the Trevaines alone in their manor with the only copy of the proofs and without telling anyone of her doubts. Bondage and Laser-Guided Amnesia via drugs follow suit. While she does arrest Lilja (and other mob bosses) during the Iron Tiger Tournament, it's only because Lilja was short-sighted enough to leak information about the tournament while also still attending to it in order to see Zila killed, as she thought police would arrive later. Plus, Season 3 reveals that Lilja and all the other mob bosses save for Dominica were released soon after their arrest. (And Dominica only stayed in jail because it serves the Tremaines' interests.) Later, Julia fails to protect Lan-Lan when the latter gives her a meeting and Lilja's bodyguard comes to kidnap her. Ultimately, all the women kidnapped by Lilja (including Lan-Lan) escape on their own without Julia helping in the slightest. Moreover, a good chunk of the victories Julia scores against the Estrella Cartel in the second season happen because she receives direct help from Lilja Trevaine, therefore because it serves the interests of the antagonists.
• Fanservice Extra:
  • The dancers of the Mi Mi Mao Club, with their tight Cat Girl outfits.
  • In general, every unnamed side character who ends up Bound and Gagged at some point may qualify, especially since most of them are noticiably buxom and the way they're drawn emphatizies their behinds and busts.
• Fantastic Racism: The Kampuneans (a Latin America Fantasy Counterpart Culture) get no love from most of Beistad and most of the crime is blamed on them.
• Foreign Cuss Word: Dominica, upon discovering that her night club the Mi Mi Mao has been set on fire, unleashes a tirade of profanities in her native language.
• Generic Ethnic Crime Gang: Most notably the Estrella Cartel but the Suomenajokoira, from a Lapland Fantasy Counterpart Culture, also count.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Kenka Zhao, assassin and trouble shooter for hire, dresses in leather biker garb.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: For better and for worse, each chapter tends to have an odd, quirky name attached to it. They often revolve around Swedish cusine or culture.
• Idiot Ball: Julia firmly holds it when, after being handed solid evidences of the Trevaines' illegal operations, she decides to confront them alone in their own manor while bringing the documents with her. She didn't even think of giving the evidences to her superiors or, at least, making copies.
• Instant Sedation: Chloroform in this universe knocks people out almost instantly.
• Internet Jerk: xL4N real name Lan Xuelan is a ruthless hacker and troll online and a meek and soft-spoken girl offline in a rare female example.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Francois is an opportunistic career criminal, with a laundry list of felonies even before he kidnapped Lilja Trevaine for ransom. But he has standards about letting innocent bystanders come to real harm. For instance, when the Mi Mi Mao club starts to burn because of Amelie's hijinks, he chooses to save all the innocent bystanders that ended up Bound and Gagged because of his schemes, even though he has to let the money burn because of it. Possible overlap with Loveable Rogue.
• Kill and Replace: After Zila's arrested, her brother infiltrates the prison in which she's locked, with the very strong implication that he murdered the real warden to take his clothes and they disposed of the body by having Zila eat him.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Julia was brainwashed by Lilja during Volume 2 after she confronted her about her family's involvement in criminal activities, to make her forget about the aforementioned criminal activities.
• Male Gaze: There are a lot of panels focusing on the female characters' cleavage or backsides.
• Mafia Princess: Lilja, due to her family being funded by criminal activity. At the Iron Tiger Tournament, one of the spectators is Anya, teenage head of the the Suomenajoikara.
• Mob War: Lilja's kidnapping, and therefore the whole plot, is kickstarted by the beginning of the war between the Trevaine family who rule Beistad and the Estrella de Manan cartel who long to overthrow them.
• Mr. Exposition: Lady Kobayashi exists solely to tell Julia about the Trevaine's criminal enterprises.
• Mugged for Disguise: Happens at two different points to two employees/guest performers at the Mi Mi Mao club, by both Amelie and Julia who need their outfits to infiltrate the building. Of course, the real dancers end up Bound and Gagged in their undies.
• Ms. Fanservice: Almost all the young adult and adult female characters and extras are noticiably buxom and the way they're drawn emphasizies their behinds and busts.
• Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Subversion. Zhao brings a knife to a gun fight against Zila and *wins*
• The Plan: Yumi, the Trevaine lawyer, seemed to have an elaborate one involving leaking data to wannabe hero cop Julia in order to have her serve as a cover for Zhao's activities.
• Playful Hacker: xL4N real name Lan Xuelan is a mercenary hacker, hacking and spying for the highest bidder.
• Police Are Useless: Because the crime families are so entrenched and well-connected, the police can only do so much against them... and as a member of the police, it drives Julia up the wall with how helpless it makes her feel.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: The Trevaine family is conspiring against the Kampunean population of Beistad due to both the Estrella de Manan being composed and led by ethnic Kampuneans and because they feel that they bring down the city's image just with their presence.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • The Trevaine family is involved in behind-the-scenes illegal activities, but devote a lot of money to the development of community and culture in order to have good publicity in Beistad. Justine Trevaine also disapproves of her son Bernard's thuggish nature and his propensity for violence... because she deems it unfit for the future leader and public head of the family, at least in front of witnesses. Justine also disapproves of her daughter's plans to get rid of Diaz, because Lilja's schemes prove to be dangerous for her safety and her family. When Lilja is arrested after the BCP's raid on the Iron Tiger Tournment, her mother refuses to bail her out, arguing that she deserves a lesson because her plan to tip off the BCP and have them come arrest all the rival mob bosses attending to the Tournament has also threatened the Tremaine's assets, since they were the ones who benefitted the most from the Tournament's incomes, and their reputation, since Lilja was caught while attending this illegal event.
  • Dominica Diaz, leader of the Estrella de Manan cartel, refuses to use lethal means to get rid of Julia and her squad that are hitting her illegal businesses... because if they escalate things, the police would crack down on them HARD.
• Punk in the Trunk: Lilja, Julia, an unfortunate driver who got her car stolen by François and a number of Mi Mi Mao club employees all find themselves trussed up in car trunks at some point as part of criminal shenanigans.
• Pyromaniac: Amelie has a rather lot of love for home made explosive devices.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Although François insists that his shirt is salmon.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Philip of the BCP seems to be headed this way, as he immediately understands that Julia did everything she could to save Lilja and doesn't blame her for the failure. Though he tells Julia she's not to investigate the kidnapping case, he does so out of concern for her well-being above anything else.
• Recurring Extra: A lot of background people show up several times at different moments.
  • For instance, some employees of the Mi Mi Mao Club are shown again in Chapter 2 of the Second Part, searching for a new job after the destruction of the Club. They do find one... in a bondage club... One of them is later found working at a café, then at a fast-food that ends up robbed by François and Amelie. Another becomes a secretary working for Diaz... and is kidnapped by agents working for the Tremaine family.
  • The driver who was mugged by François for her car is later seen eating at a fast-food restaurant... which is promptly robbed by François
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Because most of the fanservice comes from characters getting Bound and Gagged, this is the default for fanservice in this universe.
• Remember the New Guy?: The story suffers from this due to many named characters being introduced constantly with no formal introduction, they just appear and people act as if they were always there.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Megan certainly seems to think so.
• Shout-Out:
  • Jorgen reenacts a famous scene from The Shining during his chase with François.
  • Mario and Luigi expies can be seen working during the reconstruction of Megan's bar.
  • Amelie quotes from Pulp Fiction when performing a heist.
• Smug Snake: Lilja Tremaine oozes smug satisfaction when she's in control, and she thinks that her plans make her a great chessmaster that will destroy the Estrella de Manan cartel in Beistad. However, while she manages to achieve repeated successes by using Julia as an Unwitting Pawn and to ultimately cause Dominica Diaz's arrest, her short-sightedness and arrogance make her far less efficient than she thinks she is. Best examplified during the Iron Tiger Tournament, when she refuses to leave the place before witnessing Zila being killed because she seriously underestimates the BCP's speed of action. Even though she knows they will come, as she's the one who revealed to them the location of the building where the tournament was taking place. The fact that she didn't know that having the BCP crash the Tournament would hurt her family's incomes also shows she's not as smart as she thinks she is.
• Street Urchin: Raggamuffin Amelie had a very tragic backstory as a homeless child, despite her upbeat attitude.
• Tagalong Kid: Amelie to wannabe criminal mastermind Francois. It's questionable which is the more competent of the two. By the Iron Tiger Tournament, its closer to Francois being the tagalong adult.
• Tempting Fate: In chapter 8. "Well, it seems everyone got away safely. That could have been a lot worse." Cue the Mi Mi Mao Club collapsing.
• Unlucky Extra: A good chunk of the Recurring Extras have the misfortune of regularly being caught in the main characters' shaenigans, often with predictable results given the kind of webcomic they're in.
  • The Mi Mi Mao employee that Julia knocked out in order to steal her uniform, and left Bound and Gagged in a trunk, shows up several times in the second part trying to find a new job. Her first try at a bondage club ends up ruined when Julia stormed the place and, during a later try at a fast-food, she ends up tied up and gagged again when Amelie and François rob the place, commenting that she should have stayed at the bondage club, since she always ends up Bound and Gagged anyway.
  • The woman whom François robbed in order to steal her car and leaves Bound and Gagged in the trunk shows up later eating a fast-food restaurant... which is promptly robbed by François, so she ends up bound and gagged again.
• Unwilling Suspension: As friendly as Sisu is, he's not afraid to conduct a "friendly" meeting with a troublesome snoop hanging behind him to remind his guest that he's not kidding around.
• Unwitting Pawn: Lilja hopes to turn Julia into one for the Trevaine family. Right now, they are using her to lay waste on the Estrella de Manan cartel.
• Villainous Crush: Lilja seems to have a one-sided one towards Julia, if her words when she has the latter at her mercy are any indication, ever since she saved her life.
• Villain with Good Publicity: The Trevaine family has an impeccable reputation in Beistad, as they devoted a lot of money to the development of community and culture both. However, behind the scenes, they are involved with illegal activities.
• Yakuza: Have a base of operations in Beistad and tell Julia about the Trevaine's criminal enterprises.
• You Have Failed Me: Non-lethal example, but Dominica's boss decides to leave her to be arrested by the police after the whole Iron Tiger Tournament fiasco.