The Badger Herald is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. Founded in 1969, it is one of America's first independent daily student newspapers. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year. Available at newsstands across campus and Downtown Madison, Wisconsin and published on the Web, it has a print circulation of 15,000.

The Badger Herald, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation run entirely by University of Wisconsin–Madison students and funded solely by advertising revenue. The Board of Directors, which operates the company, is composed of nine UW students and three non-voting advisers, including noted First Amendment expert Donald Downs and former Republican congressional candidate John Sharpless.

The staff consists of more than 100, about half of whom are salaried employees. The office is located off-campus at 326 W. Gorham St., less than one block from State Street. The paper is printed by Capital Newspapers, Inc., home of the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times.

The Badger is a comic book character and series created by writer Mike Baron in 1983. The series began publication with the short-lived Capital Comics company before First Comics acquired the title and continued publishing it through the 1980s and early 1990s. The series ended when First Comics also ceased all publications. Since the ongoing series ended in 1991, new Badger titles have been released through Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics and IDW Publishing.

The series was a madcap combination of genres; something of a spoof on superheroes, with plenty of magic/fantasy and Mike Baron's in-depth knowledge of martial arts thrown in. The book was a black comedy, unusual for comics of its time. Some stories were light-hearted and off the wall, while others featured highly realistic crimes and acts of violence. Some objected to the series' use of the mentally ill as subjects for comedy. Others regard The Badger as one of the funniest superhero comic series of all time.

The Badger was mostly set in Madison, Wisconsin, where Capital Comics was situated, and where Baron actually lived. The city in general, and State Street in particular, were very faithfully depicted. In one case, the Badger had a duel with a close analogue of locally noted real-life gourmet chef Herb Ng over Ng's use of a snake's poison-bladder in a special soup.