Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 5

This is a chunk of the Gundam universe we've never really gotten a good look at - how Char and Sayla were separated and why, how the Zabi family came to power, and what Zeon Dekium was like.

Zeon's depiction is probably the biggest weakness in the volume. I was hoping he'd be more of a two-dimensional character, that he wouldn't be espousing the sort of spacenoid-supremicist fascist ideology that the Zabis were promoting. Instead, the two couldn't be more ideologically identical, with the sole difference being that the Zabis want to be in power, and find Zeon to be an obstacle.

Other than that, even if you haven't been following the manga thus far and you're a fan of the Universal Century portion of the Gundam multiverse, I'd recommend reading this volume.