When Corto Maltese arrives in the Middle East and Africa in 1918 the shifting sands and loyalties reveal colonial powers still battling for domination over each other and the indigenous people. The desert of Yemen, controlled by the fading Ottoman Empire, is the setting for In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate, where Corto meets Cush, the Danikil warrior with whom he establishes a close yet conflicted relationship. In The Coup...