12 Disturbing Moments From The Walking Dead Comics You'll Be Glad the Show Skipped

When Rick, Michonne, and Glenn first meet the Governor, they think everything is fine. Then, the Governor shows his true colors and chops off Rick's right hand like the savage monster he is.

Robert Kirkman, the creator of both the comics and the TV show, explained during a Reddit AMA why they let TV Rick keep his hand: "To clarify, I think cutting Rick's hand of when we did was GREAT for the comic. It's just that in another medium it would be harder to pull off; we cheat in the comic because things aren't moving. You can't do that on the show. You'd see Rick not being able to reload his gun, and things like that. The CGI of cutting off Rick's hand would be expensive, but we did it with Hershel's leg so if we felt strongly about Rick losing a hand, we'd do it."

While Carl shoots a teen surrendering in the woods on the show, it's arguably not nearly as shocking as his child murder in the source material. In the comics, Dale and Andrea adopt two orphaned twins named Billy and Ben. The brothers aren't featured on the show. Instead, they're adapted into sisters Lizzie and Mika, who were seen on season four and one episode of season five.

In a Cain and Abel moment, Ben murders Billy, but purposely doesn't injure Billy's brain so his brother can return as a walker. While the adults debate on what should happen to Ben, Carl takes it upon himself to sneak into the vehicle housing Ben and kill him, "solving" the problem at hand.

Hershel has four daughters in the comics and two on the show. Early on in the comics, an inmate of the prison named Thomas Richards, who survived the initial outbreak, stalks and decapitates Hershel's twin daughters Susie and Rachel. He's eventually found out and executed, but the fact the girls were barely even teenagers makes us glad the show totally left out that whole sequence.

Douglas Monroe — who is gender-swapped to Deanna on the show — tells Rick a story he read about a father who ate his son's eyes right out of his head. While that's unbelievably messed up, what makes the story worse is that the boy says, "Daddy ate my eyes." Though the comics don't show the event, it's chilling enough just to read.

TV show Governor's treatment of his dead daughter Penny is certainly bizarre, but thankfully we don't have to witness him pulling out her teeth with pliers and deeply kissing her on the mouth like he does in the comics. The artwork in the comics is cringe-worthy enough. The Governor is Penny's uncle in the comics.

Can you imagine The Walking Dead without the badass who is Carol? Well, her role in the comics is cut super short. She slits her wrists — in front of daughter Sophia — but not deep enough to kill her. Later, she willingly goes toward a walker at the prison and lets it bite her.

The Walking Dead is no stranger to sexual assault — remember when Carl was nearly raped in season four? — but the Woodbury sequences in the comics surrounding the Governor and Michonne are simply too much. For starters, he ties her legs to the wall so she's constantly "spread open." He also moves Glenn into the adjoining cell, forcing him to have to listen to Michonne's rape and torture. The Governor's sadism runs rampant, making him 1,000 times more unlikable than the character on the show.

After she escapes from her cell, Michonne gives the Governor exactly what he deserves. While it's a sickeningly satisfying moment in the comics, it is also too much. Michonne strips the Governor naked, ties his legs to the wall, drills holes into his shoulder blades, sodomizes him with a spoon, chops off an arm, and yanks out his fingernails. Oh, and she also NAILS HIS PENIS TO THE FLOOR. Like we said, it's just too much.

On the show, Carol goes from a meek housewife to a strong, unapologetic warrior. But as we mentioned earlier, she suffers from mental instability and eventually commits suicide in the comics. Before her death, however, Carol puts the moves on Rick, kissing him before he pulls away. She also low-key confesses her attraction to Lori and wants a kind of three-way, polygamous relationship with the Grimes couple. Unsurprisingly, they decline.

Surprise, non-comic readers! Andrea survives the apocalypse and later develops a relationship with Rick. She starts treating Carl like her son and he even begins calling her "Mom." While the duo work well together in the comics, Rick and Michonne are total relationship goals — but, like, maybe without all surrounding death and mayhem — on the show.

Michonne and Ezekiel's connection in the comics starts out rocky. She initially doesn't like him, but then he grows on her and they form a type of relationship. Again, had the producers followed this story line, we probably wouldn't have Rick and Michonne together anymore.

In the comics, there is no Daryl Dixon. Norman Reedus auditioned for Merle Dixon, a role which had already gone to Michael Rooker. But because his audition was so good, the character of Daryl was created just for him.

While the setup works in the comics, it's virtually impossible to imagine the series without Reedus in the mix.