The second Batman cover appearance ever is on this issue, which has the third story appearance of the legendary character. And while the Caped Crusader had faced forgettable foes up to this point, he met his first "name" villain here in the person of Dr. Death. Though Batman had earned top billing, he hadn't yet taken over the whole comic -- also appearing in this issue were the Crimson Avenger (with Jim Chambers art), Speed Saunders (with Fred Guardineer art), and Slam Bradley (in a story written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster). This copy has terrific eye appeal, with great cover colors and some of its original gloss. There has been a small amount of corner reinforcement at top and bottom of spine, as well as a tiny tear seal at bottom edge of front cover and the seal of a clean spine split of about 3.5" at top of spine. There is a clean 1-inch tear in middle of spine and a tiny egde tear at bottom of back cover. Lastly, there is a tiny chip at bottom edge of front cover and another just a the very tip of the bottom right corner of front cover. All in all, this book looks terrific and hasn't had much work done to it, despite of how this very-detailed description may sound. The consignor tells me that the comic was previously certified as an Apparent FN/VF 7.0 by CGC. Interior pages are very supple, with light toning at edges, graduating to off-white. This offering represents a rare opportunity to own one of comics' all-time classics without having to take a out a second mortgage on the house. (Please note: another restored copy very similar to this one just sold at Heritage auctions on Feb 28 for $21,510)