Follow the trail.
This event takes place between the two incidents shown in the Annual #2 as it tells the search for a renegade Green Lantern by John Stewart and company.
Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 left many big holes about how Event A led to Event B, and I'm not sure what Vendetti is trying here. Green Lantern #28 was busy with Red Lantern stuff and only touched upon the events of the Annual while this issue goes back and develops a hidden story that took place within the Annual #2 timeline. I'll get into details in the spoilers.
Jensen here tracks the side-mission with the help of Chang's visuals and it's a fun read. The renegade is a vital piece in the Durlan War and his role is shaky right now. While I commend Jensen for bringing in more pieces, it feels like he is neglecting the former cast.
One of them do get some spotlight but it's brief and isn't exactly well done. The reveal at the end seems to harp on stale beats.
SPOILERS FOLLOW................
Using the Annual #2 timeline, we get:
>11 hours ago: Durlan hivemind mentioned Von Daggle is being head-hunted by their agents
>Now: All the convicts are on Mogo. Bolphunga and Hunter Dog are there, but no Von Daggle.
So, this issue takes place 10-11 hours before the convicts and John landing on Mogo to join Hal's group.
John Stewart and company (Hunter Dog, Star Sapphire Yrra and Bolphunga) are on the trail of Daggle, a former member of the Corpse (like Hunter Dog), a covert group of the Green Lantern Corps.
He was discarded like Hunter Dog when the Corpse experiment was abandoned, and has been on the run ever since. And his best asset as a Corpsemen was that he was a Durlan (again, just like Hunter Dog).
After a long and hard battle (where Bolphunga attacks a child and gets hit in the face with an alien squid), they are able to overcome Daggle, only for a group of Durlans to show up to reclaim him.
Elsewhere, Soranik Natu and Salaak have a talk about the destruction of both Oa and Korugar. Soranik believes she is cursed (again? sheesh) and declines to participate in the attack. Suddenly, they are attacked and Salaak is hurt while Soranik is kidnapped.
The cryptkeeper finishes constructing a new memorial, including Kyle Rayner's name to those fallen (nobody outside the blue New Guardian gnomes and Star Sapphire Carol Ferris know that he is actually alive).
Soranik awakens to find Arkillo towering over her. It seems he believes she is the best chance for him to find Sinestro. Let it go, Ark, let it go!
Von Daggle has appeared before in Green Lantern Comics, as far back as Hal Jordan turning Parallax, which resulted in the destruction of the Corps and the dissolution of the Corpse team. But the animosity against Hal isn't seen here and even though I applaud Jensen for bringing back a forgotten member of the Corps, he feels superfluous at the moment.
SPOILERS END..............
Chang is in top form here and Jensen writes Bolphunga well, generating a lot of slapstick comedy.
Though I still don't like how Iolande and the rest are being short-sifted here (where is Sodam, by the way?), the new (old?) entrants may prove crucial to the War the Corps faces now.
So, I give it 7.0 out of 10.
+Bolphunga is written well
+Some great visuals
+The new Lantern's role seems vital
-Regular Corpsmen short-shifted
-New entrants may lead to overcrowding of plot
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