THE RENEGADES

Membership: Carlos Cortez, "The Dude", "The Kid", Little Flower

Purpose: To reinforce the Alamo; to defend their reputations

Affiliations: Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, General Sam Houston, Deaf Smith, Colonel William Travis

Enemies: Santa Ana

Base of Operations: Mobile in Texas circa 1836

First Appearance: Western Gunfighters II#1 (August, 1970)

History: (Western Gunfighters II#1/5) - "The Dude" and Carlos Cortez rode into the Alamo during their standoff with the forces of Santa Ana, and the men inside took exception to Cortez for being Mexican. When one of them tried to draw on Cortez, Carlos threw his knife at the man, knocking the gun from his hand. A brawl broke up, joined by "the Kid," firing his guns at the men involved, and by Little Flower, who was in jail at the time, but broke out of his cell to join the fight. The fight ended when Colonel William Travis arrived, and he ordered Carlos, the Dude, the Kid and Little Flower to a meeting with him.

    As Travis explained the situation and that Santa Ana had 5,000 men to Travis' 150, Little Flower was angered when Carlos described it as "hopeless." The Dude had to face-off with Little Flower, and Little Flower was impressed when the Dude actually managed to knock him off his feet. Bringing them back to order, Travis ordered the four men to leave the Alamo and bring a letter to General Sam Houston asking him for reinforcements. They promised to succeed, and departed the next morning, thought by all of the men at the Alamo as cowards trying to flee for their lives.

(Western Gunfighters II#4/3) - Journeying through the wilderness, the four men came upon Deaf Smith, who they mistook for an enemy until learning he was going to destroy a bridge in back of Santa Ana. The four of them offered to help, and Little Flower tore the bridge down single-handed by breaking the supports apart. With the job completed, they asked Deaf Smith if he could bring them to General Houston, and he responded that Houston would need their help since the Alamo had fallen.

    The four men were disheartened to learn that they had already failed in their mission, but joined up with Houston to fight the forces of Santa Ana, and drove them away. In the aftermath of the battle, the men were labeled "Renegades" when it was learned that they had left the Alamo before it fell, but Houston was convinced that they were no deserters. Driven from Houston's camp, the four men found a Mexican soldier skulking near the scene of their battle with Santa Ana, and when they caught him were surprised to find that it was Santa Ana himself. They tied him up and left him in Houston's camp with a note to Houston which they signed "the Renegades."

(Western Gunfighters II#5/3) - The Renegades came to a town in Texas and visited the local bar, but were recognized by some men as deserters, and they got into a barfight to defend their reputations. Some men tried to run them out of town, which the Kid took exception to, but the Dude realized they would have to leave, that they could not clear their names by continuing the fight. The Renegades made camp in the woods that night, and the Kid made fun of Carlos for having a book, but the Dude got them to settle down and eat.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Mike Friedrich and Tom Sutton.

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Renegades should not be confused with:

• Raptor the Renegade, demon, possessed Simon Janson, @ Fantastic Four I#394

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