"Cup o' Joe" roundup: Newsarama reports from Joe Quesada's "Cup o' Joe" session, where the usual flurry of exclusive agreements and project plans were announced. Some of the highlights include:
* Warren Ellis' two-year exclusive agreement, initially mentioned on Friday, was confirmed. As also reported on Friday, Ellis will take over Iron Man. According to The Pulse, it was hinted that Ellis could have an ICON book. In his "Bad Signal" email newsletter, Ellis assured his fans the new contract won't affect Planetary: "Planetary is exempt from the deal, as are two other small WFH jobs I'd begun at DC. And, to reiterate, it affects my creator-owned work not at all -- I'm free to continue generating new work in that field and placing it anywhere I like."
* Robert Kirkman also has signed a two-year exclusive contract. He tells Comic Book Resources the agreement won't interfere with The Walking Dead or Invincible, and he won't be bringing the titles under the ICON banner: "They mentioned it, but I didn't give them time to make the actual offer. They mentioned it as a possibility and I told them I wasn't really interested. I'm completely happy at Image and I want to support Image Comics. I think Image is a vital part of this industry and it just wasn't an option."
* Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, writer on Marvel Knights 4 and the new Nightcrawler series, rounded out the writer exclusives.
* The Pulse also notes that artists Steve Epting and Greg Land have signed exclusive contracts with Marvel, but no duration was given.
* Marvel announced an agreement with Dreamwave, which kicks off in December with a Fantastic Four/X-Men limited series by Pat Lee.
* Runaways will return in January for "Season Two."
* Quesada said plans have changed for Thor, and asked that fans be patient. (Could it be that Neil Gaiman's schedule derailed those plans?)
* Talent Caldwell will be the new artist on Spectacular Spider-Man.