Surprise! Spy returns, just in time for the election

There are a handful of dead magazines that people eulogize with almost religious reverence.

Sassy, the ‘90s teen girl magazine that’s become such a legend people have Tumblrs and blogs devoted to it.

Domino, the home magazine published for only four years before it died. It proved so popular that its founders finally revived it in 2013.

And Spy, the 1980s and 1990s satirical publication that was calling out Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton decades before they declared their presidential candidacies.

Now, fittingly, Spy is back.

Esquire has revived the brand, which folded in 1998, for a one-month “pop-up” run in the weeks before the November election. It will function as a sub-site of Esquire.com and publish several stories per day.

Spy: Satire way back when

Spy was “The Daily Show” before Jon Stewart landed his first comedy gig. It was Gawker before Nick Denton published his first blog post. It was “The Colbert Report” before Stephen Colbert landed his first role at Second City.

It was a place for snark and irreverence before social media allowed everyone to uncork their opinions on the world at regular intervals. It ran from 1986, with Kurt Andersen and Graydon Carter serving as editors.

Can Spy still work in the era of “Daily,” Colbert and Twitter? (R.I.P., Gawker.)

The coming weeks will tell. At least initially, Spy is sticking to its Trump and Clinton bashing, which should play well in this election.

Initial stories on the site include “Is Donald Trump the World’s Greatest Pickup Artist? An Investigation” and “TV Writers Know How to Make Hillary More Likable.”

Tags: donald trump, esquire, Hillary Clinton, magazines, spy, spy magazine