To be both saint and reprobate can seem comic! (5)
I believe the answer is:
strip
'comic' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'to be both saint and reprobate can seem' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'saint' could be 'st' (abbreviation) and 'st' is found within the answer.
'reprobate' could be 'rip' (informal term for a fraud) and 'rip' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for strip that I've seen before include "Series of cartoons" , "Empty" , "sports outfit" , "Remove (paint)" , "Kind of lighting" .)