Action Comics #1

It's not a brave stance for me to start a Nerd Alert column with this statement: Zack Snyder's Man of Steel was a piece of utter garbage, so stultifying and absurdly misguided in its interpretation of a classic figure that it defies all odds. The chances of Man of Steel's sequel rising above the muck of its predecessor are not ideal, but there's still time to right the ship.

I bring up that blight on Superman's career so that I can direct you to a celebration of his humble beginning. In a shocking turn of events, a copy of Action Comics #1 has appeared on Ebay. This issue marked Superman's introduction, and as such remains a highly valuable collector's item. This copy, however, is different. Touting a 9.0 rating from the CGC (the foremost comics appraisal company), this issue of Action Comics #1 is the most pristine unrestored copy in existence. In fact, only 34 unrestored issues of this comic are still around, which makes this quite possibly the most valuable comic in the world.

As of press time, the top bid for Action Comics #1 stood at around $1.75 million with six days left to bid. The last 9.0 rated copy of this issue was sold for $2.1 million in 2011 by Nicolas Cage, of all people.

Settlers of Kaletron

Last year, The New Frontier Lounge adopted a game night for Tuesdays, called Settlers of Kaletron. MC'd by Kale Iverson, the night revolved around tables of drunk revelers playing rounds of The Settlers of Catan, while Kaletron played ukelele and improvised looped electronica. For the month of August, the event has been revived, with game nights every Tuesday. This time around, though, attendants are being encouraged to bring along board games of all varieties.

Nothing like getting lit and angrily swiping all the pieces off of your Risk board.

Emo Philips

Whenever a legend of comedy comes to Tacoma, it shouldn't go unheralded. Emo Philips has been in the business for almost 40 years. Since the beginning, he's been a true original, inspiring a whole generation of absurdist joke-centric comedians such as Mitch Hedberg, Demetri Martin and Patton Oswalt. His style is frequently copied, but never matched, with his odd falsetto and wandering way of delivering jokes. Emo Philips is like Steven Wright, countering Wright's philosophical deadpan with an impish, singsongy surrealism. This is not to be missed. Witness it at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24 at the Tacoma Comedy Club.