I don't think that's actually true. Like the rest of society, change is a gradual process, and viewed as a whole, there's actually been a great deal of progress. As the current generation of readers grow up and become creators themselves, that process will continue.
Yes, there are unbelievable lows in modern comics, and Internet criticism of the medium has a habit of accentuating them because it tends to lead to funnier commentary. In just fifty or sixty years, though, attitudes towards race, gender, sex, and violence have shifted dramatically. Things are better than they used to be... and worse, and more challenging, and less. The market has broadened in both good ways and bad, which offers the opportunity for evolution.
If I had to place my own target on the comics industry, I'd say that the real neophobes in the marketplace are the fans, who bitch up a storm whenever something changes from the way it was twenty years ago, and who punish any attempt at innovation by failing to purchase it. Modern comics are mostly fueled by the nostalgia dollar, and if you want to see real change in the comics industry, stop buying a book because you bought it ten years ago. Try new things. Reward creativity. Go neophilic.