Make Your Own Webcomic

One of the big setbacks in teaching language arts in American high schools is the student's lack of desire to read and write. They all know how, of course, but the challenge is to have them apply and use what they know. One way of doing this is through modern technology, like personal websites, blogs, even livejournals. Another media that I had never considered before was webcomics. Learners at all levels, especially in a foreign language, can create webcomics in the target language online as a way to practice their writing. We talked about this recently in my "Teaching of a Foreign Language" seminar. My professor showed us an awesome website called Pixton, where students, teachers, and anyone else can create webcomics using pre-drawn characters, backgrounds, and layouts. All you have to create is the text itself. The site is also very safe, and any inappropriate material is edited out.

Sample Pixton Panel: Santa Cameo!

On the flip side, I was thinking about the consequences of a mass-marketed webcomic generator. Half of what makes the comic world unique is the art and it's relationship with the text. If that element is standardized and only the text is manipulated, how does that change the message of the comic? What effect does this have on comics' cultural legitimacy?
This could very easily be argued both ways. A webcomic generator makes comics available to everyone, spreading the word about the awesomeness of webcomics. It would be incorporated into classrooms as an educational media (well, at least my high school classes), thus giving comics a legitimate role in the academic circle.
On the other hand, by standardizing comic art are we stripping the idea of comics down to something, god forbid, beneath "real" comics? Is this new media just the "kitsch" of the comic world, and as such how can it possibly be seen as culturally legitimate?
Check out the website (if you don't want to sign up, you can just enter and read what others have created), and let me know what you think!