Nah the stereotype still holds true in many shops. Shop owners can work hard all they want but it’s very hard when a large chunk of gamers are still very much of the gamergate ilk and the other large chunk is to worried about being non-confrontational with the bad actors in their group that the rot still festers.
And then if you do make it past that problem you still have the issue of the majority of your players presenting as male, being white, or both, and then femmes and poc do not see themselves being represented in the play group and so it adds an additional hurdle to sticking around the play group even if said white cismale group is as friendly and welcoming as can be. Not to mention that even within these well-meaning groups there are still instances of racial micro-aggressions and diet transphobia with dead name usage or incorrect pronoun usage, whether it’s malicious or not.
It’s not enough to just be like “we have some girl gamers here” anymore, the issue is a lot more complex and handwaving the boys club image away as not that big a deal anymore does more harm than good.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t good shops out there with incredibly diverse play groups, they’re just very hard to find especially if you go to one not in a major city.
Calling graphic novels, manga, comics, and other forms of illustrated and sequential art storytelling “fast food” is incredibly belittling to the art form and the creators that make them.
The visual literacy you gain through reading comics is like learning a language all on its own, separate from the written word.
It’s a good thing this is a comic then and not a memoir based on an accurate depiction of our world then. Have you no sense of whimsy? It’s just supposed to be humorous.
Sick Hellraiser 2 reference.