10 Even More Most Disgusting Comic Book Deaths

7. Donatello's Shell Gets Ripped Off Before He's Beaten To Death

Marvel Zombies Return Spider-Man Aunt May Mary Jane Watson
IDW Publishing

One of the more notable comic book deaths in recent years, IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle line is one that has been absolutely brilliant, and also at times absolutely brutal.

Case in point, TMNT #44 did the unthinkable and killed off Donatello.

The concept of having one of our Heroes in a Half-Shell perish was one that many were massively taken aback by, but even more jarring was the fashion in which Donnie was offed.

In the Attack on Technodrome story, Donatello decides to stay at home while his brothers head out to stop Kang. Unfortunately, the tech genius of the Turtles is ambushed and outnumbered by Bebop and Rocksteady in an attack that ultimately costs Donnie his life. Before his death eventually comes, there's the sickening moment - off-panel, of course - where Rocksteady smashes Donatello's shell with a sledgehammer, with the rogue quipping to Bebop, ""Didya expect it to look like that under there?"

It would be a whole 12 further pages until Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Master Splinter finally discovered the dead body of the fallen Donatello, with this the most disturbing, shocking moment in the 38-year history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

While Donnie's demise was totally twisted, he would be alive and well a few months later, with his conscious initially taking over the body of Metalhead before returning to his own body.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.