Titans, Vol. 3: Hard Feelings

Titans (2023)

by John Layman, Pete Woods (Artist), Serg Acuña (Artist)

The Titans go All-In! Join a brand-new creative team of John Layman and Pete Woods as the Titans search for their new place in the world after the events of Absolute Power.

A league of their own! After the events of Absolute Power, the team looks towards the future and their place in it. Will their failure to control Amanda Waller mean lasting consequences for the hero community?

Collects: Titans #16-20

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2025

About the author

John Steele Layman is an American comic book writer and letterer. Layman is most known for writing Chew, published by Image Comics.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bland and unimaginative retread of ideas Taylor has only just finished wrapping up. Roy's character is reduced to almost a one trick pony: an angry and unlikable guy who is still romantically tied to Donna, and whilst it is nice to see Donna become the leader of the Titans, this, too, is poorly executed as it spends more time on Dick's change of role. Lackluster in writing and visual presentation, it is a shame to see how quickly this series has nosedived with a new creative team.

actual rating: 1.5 stars

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Not a bad first volume from the new creative team. Pete Woods’ artwork is a little too cartoony for my tastes but I certainly don’t hate it. John Layman seems to have a good handle on the Titans and I liked the changes he made to the team.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good transition book for the Titans. Not as action-packed as the other books but good character development.

The Justice League is back and everyone is a member including the Titans. However having tasted being the premier team, are they willing to take orders again? Also, the Titans have some changes in their roster. New roles and old members, old enemies with new powers and agendas and teammates working through their trauma.

This is a transition period for the Titans but also for their enemies attacking from the shadows. The players are in place I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty much just bad all around and I'm sorry, but why would you draw some of the most beautiful ladies in the DC universe so hideously?

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Layman é um escritor que fez muito sucesso com a série do detetive Chew, que investiga através do sabor das coisas que come. Layman foi cooptado pela DC Comics para escrever quadrinhos de super-heróis, mas, na minha opinião, não se saiu muito bem na maioria das séries que desenvolveu. É o caso de Titãs, em que ele substitui Tom Taylor. Aqui neste volume ele faz um feijão com arroz sem gosto num back to basics dos personagens. Sai o Flash e entra o Arsenal no seu lugar. Os Titãs enfrentam inimigos clássicos como Mamute e Cintila, Nevasca, Rei Relógio e o Pirata Psíquico, todos eles arregimentados por uma ameaça maior. Os desenhos ficam por conta de Pete Woods, um cara que eu curtia quando fazia Superman, mas assumiu um estilo mangá nesta série, tanto no traço como na narrativa que não me agradou em nada. Um volume bem ruinzinho dos Titãs, hein?

[André Habet]

meh

[jana (taylor's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Emmett Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title has taken a marked turn with Taylor’s exit, trading heart for hijinks, deep bonds for bickering, and emotionally resonant storytelling for a bunch of stuff happening. Pete Woods’s art is the standout here.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25. Im saddened that Tom Taylor left but with the writer of Chew on board the swap had me hopeful. This continues the issue count from Tom Taylor's run since it follows right afterthought it's very clear in tone, direction, characters, and storyline that this is a newer direction from Tom Taylor.
Some crew are out and some crew join in with a new leader in Donna. The only super big thing from Taylor's run that is kept is Raven since she's reformed her evil and good sides and is messy both emotionally and in the assignments they do. The storyline slowly introduces a new Crime Syndicate with some behind the scene manipulation from the newly powered up Clock King and Psycho Pirate. Other than that, found family bickering ensues as Donna deals with being a leader against Nightwing's guidance, Raven's messiness ensues, and Roy acts like a gruff jackass who gives “well somehow had to say it” energy. I remember Chew had a lot of comedic sardonic bickering between its cast members and it follows in here as well with oodles of verbal potshots slung between Titans members that works well. I do really have a gripe with how this all feels like setup. It's a reintroduction for the All-In line and it's fine but nothing really feels accomplished or coming full circle aside from a group of villains slowly coming together and Raven's deal. The deal with Raven also lightly retcons the previous run by making it so she unconsciously didn't embrace her dark side. Some say it feels like derivative or piggybacking but it's done ok and is a highlight since it's again one of the only things given focus that also feels like it comes full circle. But there are just a bunch of other plotlines I didn't like how they were handled such as Roy and Donna, Donna dealing with being the new leader, Cyborg recreating Vanaidis in his lab. Those just don't feel paid off and instead just an introduction for what's to come. Also, Clock King feels kind of useless with his new memory powers considering Psycho Pirate also joins and just has total emotional control to accomplish the same thing.
Apparently a lot of people find the artwork in this ugly. And I sorta get what they're talking about but I think it looks fine. Pete Woods is one of the artists here and he has a very high definition artstyle. I find his work nice and you can tell he does some fun digital tricks to save time or add some ambience to the backgrounds. But his faces are very detailed and angular with added lighting. They're also very expressive. It reminds me of Laika claymation a bit. So the faces can look off or too much with some bordering on caricature levels. And naturally they get a fair amount of framing or focus. The fight scenes are nicely done with big shots, kinetic angles, and fun poses. But the faces are very hit-or-miss on how you'll feel about them. Serg Acuna does a smaller portion and feels like a more palatable, less pronounced Pete Woods.

[Sarra Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

God this was bad. So bad I couldn’t even finish it after I already bought the trade. The only thing I appreciated was the back seat of beast boy and raven’s relationship and the front seat of starfire and Raven’s relationship. I HATED the constant shoving of Beast boy and Raven and the erasure of Starfire and Raven’s friendship. Beast boy and Raven had no chemistry in the earlier volumes it was just constant trauma dumping I had to just skip over it. Raven relaying on Starfire was so nice because they’re supposed to be best friends and although Raven is the empath, Starfire also is very in tune with emotions coming she the culture of her people. Them being so similar in that sense and yet complete opposites in personality is why they’re so great.

However that was the only highlight. Donna is made leader and it just didn’t seem natural. She actually sucked and there seemed to be no team chemistry. The main conflict in this book being her struggle with becoming leader is fine but there were absolutely no stakes and it went from her unsure of herself to she’s over confident when her decisions aren’t even that good. Nightwing was the leader because of his investigative skills as seen in the other volumes. In the Donna doesn’t even put two and two together that the villain that made her have delusions earlier is the same villain making Shimmer go crazy with delusions. Like it’s common sense. There’s no reason for the reader to figure out the villain before they do unless we’re specifically given that insight, to which we weren’t. Everyone just seemed dumbed down. The next of which who got terribly dumbed down was Raven. In what world would the Raven in the previous volumes ever be this emotionally unstable?? And I understand the writer said it was because she is finally whole again but they had her keep her jewel on her forehead and went back to her purple costume?? Almost undoing her progress considering at the end of dark winged queen she seemed to be fully in run with herself and finally complete and now she’s in shambles? She’s also just ditzy in this. There’s a difference between being unstable and just ditzy. Dumb even. They nerfed her so bad she was getting wrecked by the simplest of villains. The whole team was lowkey but especially her.

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know when you're watching trashy TV and all you're thinking is "This...this is actual horse shit, who even wrote this and who approved it?!" and then you can't look away? Yeah. That was this.

The dialogue is horrible and campy and often awkward and the art is just- What the fuck did they DO to everyone? Some of the expressions and proportions were just absurd, but hey, the colours were actually great. Also Beast Boy now has this stupid tiny ponytail and I'm sorry, I can't get over how dumb it looks. A lot of the storylines were interesting and the rest may actually have been salvageable had another team been at the reins of this. Sadly, no. Still, I kept reading and I didn't rate this 1 star. So. Y'know. It wasnt the kind of bad that made me angry, just incredulous. I face palmed a lot. And snorted back laughter.

They rehashed the Raven split minds thing again as the finale, and I adore Rachel to bits but I found myself just going "Seriously? This again?" I get they had to resolve it but they could've done it in the last volume where the writing was good because this was just ruining what could've been a glorious redemption and 'new beginnings' type arc for my girl. Instead of was cliched dialogue once again and ughhh I am upset. Somehow they dragged out the story and rushed it at the very end. Talent.

I really liked the the idea of this. And I will say that I needed something absolutely brainless to read and this held my attention, so it gets credit for that. I'm just pissed that yet another Titans run is starting off beautifully before crashing in tiny, jagged pieces destined for the "trash this and discontinue" pile. The first three volumes were the best I've seen of the Titans in a while so yeah, I'm disappointed. I just shouldn't be surprised.

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite run of the comic..
I mean...

The 'All In' initiative is in full effect. The Justice League has just upgraded themselves to unlimited status, and what do the Titans do? Stay away from the JL's satellite and move in to one of the old underground(?) bases they had. Doesn't sound like something that an adult superteam that, up until recently was supposed to be on par with the JLA, would do. Beastworld and Waller happen and suddenly you're back to being 'teens trying to fit in'?

This team is a joke...
-Flash? New suit. New powers. Doesn't need this B.S. and leaves to work with the JL
-Donna? Promoted to Team Leader and second guesses herself on demand
-Nightwing? Bludhaven's been a mess and why lead a team when life gets hard?
-Raven? Pretty much an emotional broadcaster now
-Beast Boy? Character growth? You mean, besides being Raven's BF?
-Roy? Pouty with a side of stuck in his own past
-Cyborg? Secretive? Check. Snarky about working with the JL (a team that he worked on since 'New 52! That stuff just didn't erase itself...)

I mean, if the series is supposed to focus on characters retreading over past memories and emotions, then well done...you've written a comic that was already written and released YEARS ago.
=======
Bonus: This isn't a case of 'everything old is new again'. Some things just don't age well.
Bonus: Ugh. Psycho Pirate? Does the lack of a multiverse stabilize his sanity now? I thought he was a wreck after the last few Crisises.

[AJ Easterday · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some mixed feelings on this one.

The issue illustrated by Serg Acuña is by far my favorite in this volume, and it makes me upset that he’s not the min artist on this series. Pete Woods’s Art just isn’t doing it for me. I don’t love his colors. I’m really not a fan of when he does the blurry backgrounds. It’s a little distracting.

As for the writing, there were some good moments, but also some annoying ones. Roy Harper is really annoying in this. I wasn’t a fan of how Raven was being written at first, but I got over it when I realized the reason for her heightened emotions. I am a little peeved that it was revealed Raven wasn’t actually fully reintegrated. I feel like that cheapens the end of the volume that came before this.

I don’t like John Layman’s habit of starting an issue in media res, and then having a caption that’s like “Here’s how we got here…” And speaking of captions, I also don’t love how much he flip-flopped between different POVs in the captions.

I still love this team, and there were some fun moments. I don’t plan on giving up on this series. But I sure hope the writing gets a little cleaner.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah Hard Feelings alright – I FEEL that going from the previous volume to this one was quite HARD.

I’m being unfair—this was an alright read. I enjoyed it enough while reading, but wasn’t itching to come back between readings. While it grew on me by the end, I didn’t care for the art style, and the dialogue is pretty rough: constant emotional outlining, recaps, and describing what’s being shown in the action. All the greatest hits of bad comic dialogue. The settings are bland too (we spend all our time just in labs and city streets), leaving little visually interesting scenery. The overall narrative is okay, with some fun use of D-list villains, but it feels like a retread of the last volume and fails to address bigger questions like the Titans’ role alongside the Justice League. Also, Donna feels massively out of character. I want less Titans bickering and fighting random villains, and more seeing them build a team together and developed their relationships.

2 Psycho Pirates out of 5

🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️⬛⬛⬛

[Ángel Javier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un solo episodio, y ya se da uno cuenta de que Layman no es el guionista apropiado para los Titanes. No es que Tom Taylor brillara mucho, pero trataba al equipo como una familia, y trazaba las historias en torno a esta premisa. Layman concibe a los Titanes como una Liga de la Justicia de segunda, y, por mucho que intente evitarlo, se nota. Ahora todo son planes de súper villanos con muy poquita originalidad y agujeros de guion del tamaño de acorazados, porque, hey, ¿qué importa que el psico pirata sea físicamente un blandengue? Si la trama demanda que noquee a Arsenal, pues lo hace y ya está. Y es solo un ejemplo del tipo de escritura gandula y poco inspirada que domina el volumen en su totalidad. Pete Woods no hace mal trabajo, pero su estilo no encandila. En fin, que hasta luego, Titanes. Esperaremos tiempos mejores para reencontrarnos.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Layman picks up where Tom Taylor left off, as the Titans reel from Beast World and Absolute Power. Deathstroke waits in the wings, while a cavalcade of villains throw the Titans' feelings all over the place in these six issues.

Lots of props for this - a Raven story that's not about her going evil or worrying that she's going evil, some classic Titans foes like Deathstroke and Mammoth and Shimmer, and some unexpected appearances by Clock King and Psycho Pirate that keeps everyone on their toes. Layman's banter gets a bit repetitive, but it makes sense given that the Titans are having their emotions toyed with for most of the book.

Add in some awesome artwork from Pete Woods and a fill-in issue by Serg Acuna, and Titans is still going strong as part of All-In.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, what a let-down. I loved the Tom Taylor run. It was really quite good super heroing. So when I picked this volume up, I was astounded by how mediocre it was. Took me a bit to realize Taylor was no longer involved.

The characterization is shallow, the bickering is insufferable, and the plot is pretty much nothing new. Oh, Deathstroke is hunting the Titans. But not even in an interesting way. Oh, Raven is mind-controled yet again. Blahblahblah.

I mean, maybe it's average superheroes, maybe slightly below average. 2.5 stars is what sticks in my head, but I rounded this one down to underline the difference with the previous volumes.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dropped this book from my pull as soon as Tom Taylor left and I am sure glad I did. This was awful. The Titans bicker constantly nonstop throughout this. Even though they are invited to be part of the new Justice League, they decide to go underground in New York City. Clock King's got some new powers that Layman can't even explain. I still have no idea what they really are. Donna's the new team leader but Dick is nonstop giving her advice. DC's been putting out some great comics lately but sure ain't one of them. The only thing it's good for is lining the bottom of a bird cage.

[Saarah Mohammed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, and I did like certain aspects. I loved seeing Donna lead and her battling her own insecurities/fears around the matter. And I loved the overall plot. But there were just certain characterisations that felt so off for multiple characters, and it was just harder to enjoy than the previous comics in this run.

I did cackle at "doubt there's another super-team in existence with our combined trauma" though.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty rough. There are some things in here that are good ideas, at least on paper. Deathstroke using lower tier villains to strike at the Titans by proxy, Donna becoming leader of the team. Unfortunately, Donna's leadership is constantly undermined by the presence of Nightwing on the team. It just doesn't make sense for him to step back from the team and stay a part of it. Honestly, all of the characters feel pretty one dimensional here, and the dialog often falls entirely flat.

[John Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have adored everything John Layman has done.
Until now.
This book is decidedly meh.
As I have said before The Titans have never been my favourite hero teams.
That said I was really hopeful since Layman was writing it.
The story was both overly tedious and formulaic.
For fucking once can the bad gut in a Titans storyline NOT be Deathstroke?

[elsybelsy]

This was a bit rough for me. I think any transition period is warranted to have a tough time, but the writing—especially for the women—felt flat. I thought the concept was interesting, but at the same time that any time a woman came into the page it was the exact same, no depth of character. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the art, but by no means do I have any right to criticize art.

[John Rudd · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't as bad as some reviews make it out to be, but it isn't good either. The good character writing and chemistry from Taylor's time on Titans is gone, and so is some of the magic. - 2.25 not the worst, but not good.

[Dash Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong continuation!! I love the use of Clock King as this kind of trauma tapper- and I love the addition of Roy Harper to the team. He truly gives a good amount of friction to most interactions that was missing before. I absolutely adored Gar and Rachaels empathic misadventures in the park

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit too slow pacing and I don't really enjoy Pete Woods's art but a fun read nevertheless.

[Hades Grayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[kydecas · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

emotionally unstable and hot?? titans goin through it fr

[Belfry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt a little bit like "feelings are tough!" and a teen book...

[Fazun · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5