Editing Victory!

{{disambig3|Victory}}
{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=[[Transformers Annual 1986]]
|prev=State Games
|next=The Mission
|seriesissue2=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]]
|prev2=Dinobot Hunt!
|next2=Second Generation!
|title="Victory!"
|image=VictoryUKAnnual.JPG
|caption=Megatron gets a splitting headache.
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|date=September [[1986]]
|coverdate=[[1986]]
|writer=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[Geoff Senior]]
|lettering=[[Annie Halfacree]]
|colours=[[Gina Hart]]
|editor=[[Sheila Cranna]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}
'''The Dinobots dream about dying in battle while in a coma-like state.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Victory swoop vs soundwave.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.5]]
The [[Decepticon]]s think they are victorious. All the [[Autobot]]s are dead. Except one—[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]]. He surprises [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] and quickly dispatches him by slicing him in half with his sword. He then goes on to attack the other Decepticons, defeating all who stand before him. Except one—[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]]. The treacherous air commander picks up the fallen Megatron's [[fusion cannon]], then approaches Grimlock, feigning an injury and "begging" for mercy. The overconfident Grimlock lets his guard down long enough for Starscream to raise the cannon and fire a blast straight through the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] leader. Grimlock collapses, his victory turning to defeat, and his world fading to darkness... and a pair of voices...

In the middle of a battle, [[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]] attacks and carries off [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]. When [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] orders Swoop to release him, it only convinces the insubordinate Dinobot to instead fly off to display Soundwave in front of the other Decepticons. Unwilling to allow himself to be humiliated, Soundwave self-destructs and destroys Swoop in the process, a blast of fire and light descending instantly into darkness... and voices.

[[Sludge (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Sludge]] is running free through a swamp, but comes screeching to a halt when [[Joy Meadows]], the "beautiful golden human" he once met before, appears in his path. Overjoyed to see her, Sludge nuzzles the woman... only for Joy to then rip the flesh from her own head, revealing herself to be a robot duplicate who fatally blasts Sludge with eye beams. As he dies, Sludge sees Megatron striding towards him with a remote control device for the robotic Joy. Then... just darkness, and voices.

[[File:Victory dinobots cant wake up.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.5]]

[[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] finds himself in a rematch with the battle droid [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]], which has already slain several Autobots. Snarl manages to decapitate it with his tail, and, satisfied that he has defeated it, he turns away... unaware that the headless droid is still active. Snarl never even sees Guardian attack from behind... only the darkness... and the voices.

[[Slag (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Slag]] confronts [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] on the edge of a cliff, and is goaded into charging by the logical Decepticon's taunting words. Heedless of the danger, Slag barrels into his oppnent, and they both go flying over the cliff edge. Shockwave crashes to the ground but Slag lands in a tar pit and sinks out of sight... into the darkness... and voices.

The voices, it turns out, belong to Optimus Prime and [[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]], who are in the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'s medical bay, reviewing the condition of the offline Dinobots. Ratchet explains that he has physically repaired the damage they recently sustained, but for some reason the Dinobots remain catatonic, trapped in a coma-like state. Even in this state, they dream... but, just as these dreams push their mental activity to the point that should they should rightly awaken, it suddenly drops back down to a minimal state. Prime urges Ratchet to find a way to help the Dinobots, but Ratchet is unconvinced that he will be able to do anything—he believes that character flaws in the individual Dinobots' personalities' are preventing them from waking... and overcoming ''those'' is a battle that the Dinobots must win on their own.
{{-}}
==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in dreams.)<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*''[[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]]'' (1)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]] (9)
*[[Sludge (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Sludge]] (10)
*[[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] (13)
*[[Slag (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Slag]] (15)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]] (16)
|c2=
*''[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]'' (2)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'' (3)
*''[[Skywarp (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Skywarp]]'' (6)
*''[[Ravage (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ravage]]'' (7)
*''[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]]'' (8)
*''[[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]]'' (14)
|c3=
*''[[Joy Meadows]]'' (11)
|c4=
*''[[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]]'' (12)
}}

==Notes==
===Trivia===	
* While it ''is'' only a dream sequence, this early 80s issue treats Transformers fans to a marvelously in-character scene wherein Starscream mocks Megatron's corpse and then ''brandishes his fusion cannon on his own arm'' to use and slaughter Grimlock in a bait-and-switch ploy. Witnessing the trope-defining traitor wield this iconic tool of war is a rare and exciting moment, indeed.

===Continuity notes===
[[File:Snarl guardian victory.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5]]
*"Victory!" is the first UK annual story to directly tie in with the events of the regular weekly ''Transformers'' comic. It bridges the gap between [[Dinobot Hunt!|issue #50]], in which the damaged Dinobots were rounded up by the Autobots, and [[Second Generation!|issue #65]], in which they awoke from the comas this story depicts them in. That said, the annual wasn't actually published until about three months ''after'' issue #65.
*Swoop's distaste for Optimus Prime and his reluctance to follow his orders was previously established in [[The Icarus Theory|issue #46]] of the regular series.
*Sludge encountered Joy Meadows in [[Dinobot Hunt!|issue #48]]. This story establishes Sludge's seemingly-romantic affection for her, which would come back into play when Joy reappeared in [[In the National Interest|issues #74-77]], published a month before the annual was released.
*Snarl and the other Dinobots previously faced Guardian (right) in [[The Wrath of Guardian!|issues #31]]-[[The Wrath of Grimlock!|32]].
*Slag's dream is inspired by the Dinobots' previous encounter with Shockwave, which concluded with them being submerged in a tar pit, as recounted in [[Warrior School!|issue #27]].

===Real-life references===
*Starscream paraphrases [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''{{w|Hamlet}}'' as he lifts Megatron's bisected head, remarking—as the titular Danish prince did while regarding the skull of his jester Yorick—"Alas, poor Megatron... I knew him."
{{--}}
===Artwork and technical errors===
[[File:Victory grimscream.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.25]]
*Megatron's got a golden chest, as seen before in various early UK stories. This weird colouring wrinkle (an over-literal interpretation of the way Megatron's [[package art]] rendered his toy's chromed silver chest) has long since been phased out of the regular weekly comic, so it's especially odd to see it pop up here.
*Grimlock's dinosaur mode is coloured almost entirely in the same solid grey, lacking things like his golden-yellow neck or white arms.
*Save for his yellow optics, Soundwave has a solid-blue head, lacking hie white [[mouthplate]] and other accents.
*Page 3
**Panel 1: Grimlock's pelvis is grey instead of red.
**Panel 2: Grimlock's robot mode eyes are yellow instead of red.
**Panel 3: Skywarp's wings are arms are solid purple.
**Panels 5-6: Starscream is coloured like Grimlock (blue head, golden torso, grey limbs, red pelvis; see right).
*Page 8: Snarl's Autobot symbol is uncoloured.
*Page 10
**Sludge's eyebrow is coloured blue, as if it were part of the machinery he's hooked up to.
**The lower halves of Optimus Prime's smokestacks are red instead of white.
*Page 11, panel 6: Grimlock's eyes are yellow again. Snarl's torso is partially grey when it should be solid red, he's missing his dino-tail kibble, and the plates on his back are grey instead of golden. 
{{--}}

===Cover===
*'''Transformers Annual 1986:''' Prime and other early Transformers, by [[Barry Kitson]].
<gallery>
File:Transformers annual 1987.jpg|'''Transformers Annual 1986'''
</gallery>

===Reprints===
<gallery>
File:Tfcolcom14.jpg|'''[[Transformers Collected Comics#14_.E2.80.93_Autumn Special 1989|''Collected Comics'' #14]]''' (Marvel UK, 1989; pages 2-7 & 11 only)
File:Tfcolcom20.jpg|'''''[[Transformers Collected Comics#Summer Special 1992|Transformers Summer Special 1992]]''''' (Marvel UK, 1992; pages 2-7 & 11 only)
File:TitanDH.jpg|'''''[[Transformers: Dinobot Hunt]]''''' (Titan Books, 2004)
File:BoUK Dinobots 4a.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots#Issue #4|''The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots'' #4]] cover A''' (IDW Publishing, 2007)
File:BoUK Dinobots 4b.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots#Issue #4|''The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots'' #4]] cover B''' (IDW Publishing, 2007)
File:BoUK Dinobots 4ri a.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots#Issue #4|''The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots'' #4]] cover RI-A''' (IDW Publishing, 2007)
File:BoUK Dinobots 4ri b.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots#Issue #4|''The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots'' #4]] cover RI-B''' (IDW Publishing, 2007)
File:BoUK Dinobots TPB.jpg|'''''[[The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots]]''''' TPB (IDW Publishing, 2008)
File:IDWBofUKOmnibus.jpg|'''''[[The Transformers: Best of UK]]'' Omnibus''' (IDW Publishing, 2009)
File:BestofGrimlock.jpg|'''''[[The Transformers: Best of Grimlock]]''''' (IDW Publishing, 2010)
File:Classicuk2.jpg|'''[[The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2|''The Transformers Classics UK'' Volume 2]]''' (IDW Publishing, 2012)
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v5.jpg|'''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection|''The Definitive G1 Collection, Vol. 5: The Smelting Pool'']]''' (Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2019)
</gallery>
====Reprint notes====
*When "Victory!" was reprinted in [[Transformers Collected Comics#14_.E2.80.93_Autumn Special 1989|''Collected Comics'' #14]], pages 1 and 8-10 were cut from the story. This was because the issue was originally slated to feature the shorter story "[[Ark Duty]]," but when—for unknown reasons—this didn't happen, "Victory!" was subbed in in its place, but the page count wasn't expanded to account for it, resulting in four pages being clumsily hacked out of the story to make it fit. This truncated version was also used for the 1992 Summer Special.

[[Category:Marvel UK Annual stories]]