“Road to Empyre” seems an essential read if planning to read the Marvel mega-crossover series “Empyre.”

Some readers may argue that other connected “Empyre” titles – such as “Empyre: Captain America & The Avengers,” “Empyre: X-Men,” “Lords of Empyre” and “Fantastic Four: Empyre” (OK, this last one is definitely fun and a must-read even if a reader skips all of the other “Empyre” titles) – are as vital or more necessary than “Road.”

Still, having read “Empyre,” “Road” seems the obvious book to travel to get to the main event. 

In “Road,” a murder mystery connects Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Fantastic family from the World’s Most Famous Comic Magazine with an intergalactic war that has enflamed the universe for eons.

From this tragic though simple start, the story builds to the end of the epic Skrull-Kree War and sets the stage for a new threat – a new Empyre – that may overwhelm the combined might of two of the universe’s dominant space races as well as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, other Marvel superheroes and humanity.

An army of Marvel writers and artists chronicle this tale which includes the origins of the Skrull-Kree War – which has been a part of the Marvel Universe for nearly 50 years.

“Road” is enjoyable as a trade paperback collection though it is not fully satisfying. Think of “Road to Empyre” as a tasty appetizer to the “Empyre” meal.