what are all the fees involved in mutual funds and what is typical gain?

I'm starting to thinking about putting my foot into some kinds of investment. Stocks seem too risky and i am leaning toward mutual funds(MF) and began doing reading. My friend who has been doing stock for some time says MF takes away too much fee and it's stupid idea to do MF and told me to look into stock only. 

So, for MF, there seems to be annual fee of about 1% typically which doesn't seem so much considering typical gain of 5-10% (which i understand is not guaranteed). How much are all other cost? is transaction fee separate or included in that annual 1% fee? 

I understand nothing is guaranteed, but it seems if typical gain is 5-10% and typical expense is maybe 2-3% (i don't know. this is what I am trying to find out), you still gain about 5% as net. Unless you only want 10% or more net gain and willing to take a high risk, MF doesn't seem so bad if you want to gain some money without taking too much risk. Why do some people like my friend think MF is stupid? what would you say to novice invester is typical gain and typical total expense? what is typical net gain after all the expenses? thanks.