Gernica

Gernica ("Gerunika" ゲルニカ) is a chapter of the Astro Boy manga which originally ran in the expanded New Year's edition of Shonen magazine in January 1955.

Plot Summary
Japan is being threatened by an army of giant mutant snails known as the Gernica. They were being developed and bred by a scientist in the snowy mountains as a potential source of food for the Japanese country since resources are so limited. But they escaped and killed the scientist draining all the water out of his body.

The Gernica have wiped out several cities and are approaching Tokyo. The army try to destroy them guns, poison gas and other weapons but there are too many monster snails. Astro however finds the perfect solution. He flies back and forth over the Gernica with a large bag of salt which he slowly sprinkles from the sky. The Gernica are all slowly dissolved to sludge and Japan has been saved by Astro once again.

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


 * Astro Boy, Volume 3 (Kodansha)
 * Astro Boy, Volume 14 (Dark Horse)