I was curious how I first read this Dr Death story-- being a comics fan as a kid in the 1970s I remember distinctly having the book above but I'm not sure if this reprinted Dr Death or The Monk story (which is equally as good), but I know for certain I read the story (in black and white) in the pages of BATMAN FROM THE 30s to the 70s which was a great hardcover book I got either in 1971 or 1972. I read that book to death and man I loved every story in it.
In May 1939 Batman was introduced in the pages of Detective Comics #27 in a story by Bill Finger and Bob Kane-- the character was in response to the incredible success of Superman a year earlier in Action Comics. In those days of Newstands sales results took months to come in so National Comics wouldn't know the character was a hit for several months after his first appearance. In that first appearance story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" Batman (or The Bat Man as he was called) took on a simple murder mystery. In his second appearance in Detective Comics #28 he was relegated to a small cover blurb at the top of the book; In this appearance he took on a dapper but not very interesting supervillain in the form of Frenchy Blake... Yawn. Batman needed a Rogues Gallery the same way Dick Tracy had one-- and the first actual qualifying supervillain in the Batman Mythology has to be Doctor Death. Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Bob Kane Doctor Deat