Comic Review - Sebulba Seeks a New Podracing Business Partner in Marvel's "Star Wars: Beyond Victory" One-Shot Tie-In
This past weekend at Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, Marvel Comics created an exclusive one-shot comic book to be given away at the ILM Immersive / Meta Quest booth in promotion of the upcoming VR video game Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset. Below are my brief recap and thoughts on this complimentary release after having picked it up during the event.
Beyond Victory #1 begins on the planet Batuu (which Laughing Place readers will know best as the location for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney Parks), where a hologram of a double-headed podracing announcer– I don’t believe this is specifically meant to be Fode and Beed from The Phantom Menace– introduces a race to an impatient crowd. Meanwhile within the Galma outskirts arena itself, a new character named Luuda walks with the infamous Dug named Sebulba (also originating in Star Wars: Episode I) as they plan their next mission together. Sebulba is approached by another alien and insulted resulting in Sebulba starting a barfight between the intrusive fan and the notorious bounty hunter Bossk– appearing here only in a small cameo.
Next we meet the four-armed non-binary alien podracer called Volo Bolus, who communicated with a friend named Pyya via hologram about how they need to qualify, “and to do that you’ll have to avoid crashing." But the competition, including the Snivvian named Coy and twin Rodians named Raka and Staka, are of course intent on winning the race themselves. The podrace kicks off, and Volo soon finds their podracer sabotaged by the Rodian twins, to the point where their binder coil becomes damaged. Here’s where writer Ethan Sacks flashes back to months earlier, and a promise he made to their race-loving friends Deland Tyerell (from The Phantom Menace’s deleted scenes) and Pyya, who they have learned is dying from a rare disease. Back in the present on Batuu, Volo must climb out onto the engines of their podracer in order to repair the binder coil, while in the arena the bar fight continues (with more cameo appearances by familiar background and supporting Star Wars characters) as Sebulba and Luuda watch the race’s conclusion.
Naturally, our protagonist Volo is able to repair their podracer and comes in second, qualifying in the first regional race of the season. But more importantly, Sebulba makes note of Volo’s talents and declares to Luuda that they may have found the last member of their crew. “But they’ll never be able to survive the job," says Luuda, to which Sebulba responds, “Wouldn’t that be a pity?" And at the bottom of the final page, we are told that the story will continue in the Beyond Victory experience. For what is essentially a free promotional tool for a VR game, I thought this comic was fun enough, with some nice-looking art by Steven Cummings, Will Sliney, and Shogo Aoki, along with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg. I’d say that the sport of podracing is due for some additional exploration in Star Wars storytelling, so it’s nice that this video game will allow users to spend more time in that section of the galaxy. Unfortunately I don’t currently have a Meta Quest 3, so I won’t be able to dive into the experience myself when it’s released, but the comic was enough to whet my appetite and leave me wanting to spend more time with these characters. Hopefully someday I’ll get that chance.
Star Wars: Beyond Victory #1 was an exclusive giveaway at Star Wars Celebration 2025 in Japan, while Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset is coming soon for Meta Quest 3.