Well. I think working in 3D in comics is wonderful. Sometimes you want to create a world from zero and do a shading/ colors balance with the style of your comic. I prefer to model myself based on my drawing style!. Texturing is great if you use the same art of your comic. ( not photo textures) . I don't think is cheating, in fact it helps a lots to understand perspective, camera angles, shading etc.
Also Making your own 3d models doesn't make you faster with backgrounds. Modeling takes time and you could also be looking for a Assistant too xD.