I finally got my stuborn coworker to buy the game after he found out you could have a magic type character. He's really into the older comics so we both went in thatdirection. I am the Silver Age Scrapper (lvl 11) and he is Eldritch Gentleman (lvl 2). If you see him maybe help him out he won't team unless were teamed together (he's an introvert).

Badges, is it just prestige? Should I be pursuing getting more badges?

I wouldnt really worry about badges until you can seriously start going badge hunting. Which is about level 20's for CoV and level 30 for CoH.