Astro vs. Garon

Astro vs. Garon ("Atomu tai Garon" アトム対ガロン) - originally titled "Astro Boy vs. Satan" - is a chapter of the Astro Boy manga which originally ran in Shonen magazine in October 1962.

Plot Summary
A meteor crashes on Mount Okagura, leaving an enormous crater. When Professor Ochanomizu instructs Astro Boy to excavate the meteor for them, but it turns out to not be a meteor at all. It is actually a large round sphere of mechanical bits and pieces all sealed together. When they are all separated and put together correctly, they form a giant humanoid robot. Ochanomizu discovers a note inside the robot's nose in some alien language. When Astro translates it, they learn that the robot's name is Garon and he was being delivered from one planet to another to assassinate somebody. He also has the power to modify planets. All of Ochanomizu's fellow scientists present agree with him that Garon must be destroyed, Except Professor Amagawa, who feels that Garon is an important scientific discovery and leaves vowing that he shall find a way to claim ownership of him soon.

That night, a big storm brews and Garon is blasted by very heavy lightning activating him. Astro fights him as he goes on a rampage, but Garon is too powerful and gets away, leaving poor Astro drained of energy. Amagawa later discovers Garon wounded in the face by an army missile and tells him that he'll repair the damage if Garon will go with him and become his servant. Garon agrees and is smuggled away in a truck.

Later, Amagawa and a research team fly Garon to a remote uninhabited island in the South Pacific. Amagawa commands Garon to modify the land there so that it looks exactly like the planet on which he was created. Garon complies, but before anybody realizes what is happening, he also modifies the atmosphere to that of his own planet. By the time they run a test on the readings of the air, there is hardly any oxygen, having been replaced with nitrogen and ammonia. Before Amagawa can do anything, he and all his men are choked by the noxious gas and collapse dead. But Garon keeps generating the modified air which spreads over the Pacific, wiping out whole communities on other islands and all the passengers and crew of a boat, and all the birds.

Astro is sent to investigate before major areas of the world are overcome, he discovers Amagawa's dead body and then Garon. Suddenly, Astro has an idea to trick Garon. He tells him that he's done a good job of modifying the island to look like his planet, but he's overlooked the gravity. All he needs to do is modify the gravity in one single space for one minute. Garon falls for Astro's ploy and concentrates for one minute. Fortunately, the gravity on Garon's planet is less than that of Earth and all the poison air rises like a typhoon sucking Garon up into the stratosphere and into outer space unable to return while Astro holds onto a tree. After the gravity returns to normal, Astro reports back to Ochanomizu with the news of his triumph. Ochanomizu is so proud of Astro and says that brains really do win over brawn.

Characters

 * Astro Boy
 * Professor Ochanomizu
 * Garon
 * Professor Amagawa

Collected Volumes
This story has been collected in the following volumes:


 * Astro Boy, Volume 11 (Kodansha)
 * Astro Boy, Volume 10 (Dark Horse)