“Batman: Detective Comics: The Road to Ruin,” on first read, seems the lesser story arc of recent “Batman” and “Detective” collections. 

But it provides an important connection to the storylines of the “Joker War” and Batman operating without the seemingly infinite financial resources of Bruce Wayne to the ongoing story of Gotham City’s war on Batman and other masked superheroes/vigilantes.

Writer Peter J. Tomasi is setting up the next big storyline for Batman here. And don’t despair. There is an actual story rather than just moving from one major plot line to the next. Well, maybe despair …

Hush is the bad guy but he seems wasted. Actually, Hush has been mishandled and wasted in any work since the Batman masterpiece “Hush.” There may some day be another great Hush story out there but this isn’t it. Judging from all stories revisiting Hush so far, the character should have been used once in “Hush” then left alone.

That said, “The Road to Ruin” is a road that should be traveled to smoothly get from one point to the next.