WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #4, now on sale from BOOM Studios
As befitting any teenage-centric storyline, Buffy the Vampire Slayer teased out plenty of romantic drama across multiple years of television and comics. But the most enduring was the one that erupted between the titular Buffy and her two vampiric love interests, Angel and Spike. Now, a look at how things might play out for Buffy in the long run implies which man won out in the end.
Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #4 by Casey Gilly, Joe Jaro, and Joana Lafuente quietly positions Spike as Buffy's one true final love -- and while it doesn't cement their relationship, it does imply that Spike is the ultimate victor of his rivalry with Angel for her heart.
Even though Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended in 2003, fan debate over Buffy's true love still rages -- with even politicians like Stacey Abrams getting involved in the debate. Angel was Buffy's first love in the series, a soulful and tragic vampire whose romance with Buffy literally almost got the world destroyed thanks to his evil side, Angelus. Spike meanwhile was introduced as a villain before becoming a reluctant ally to the Slayer and her allies. While Angel and Buffy ultimately decided they couldn't be together in the long-run and he relocated to Los Angeles, Buffy remained in Sunnydale and slowly formed a romance with Spike that helped push the vampire further from his villainous roots -- although elements of their relationship remain highly controversial, given how violent and their bond became.
These lingering emotions between Buffy and Spike have been an undercurrent of Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer. While Spike's immortality allows him to still look the same after over a century of life, Buffy has grown older and transformed from the spritely teenager she once was into a hardened and muscular woman. Although Buffy has been short with him over various points, Spike has returned the favor with light snark and suggestions that he still deeply cares for her. When it appears that Buffy is finally dying in the climax of Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #4, Spike makes sure to hold her and tell her she's the most magnificent thing he's ever seen. Later, after Buffy is able to survive and rejoin the resistance against the vampires, her and Spike are notably sweet with one another, sharing a sweet look as the issue ends.
All of this seems to imply that an older Buffy is prepared for the possibility of a restored romance with Spike. It actually speaks to Abrams's point about Buffy -- that Angel was the perfect love interest for Buffy when she was growing into her own, while Spike was an ideal man to be with her when she'd fully embraced her power and potential. This carries over to Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer, where Spike is clearly enamored with Buffy despite her age and self-perceived shortcomings. He even gapes at her in awe when she's become a new source of sunlight -- and only barely gets out of the way of her blasts before he's reduced to bone and ash like the rest of the vampires present.
Other versions of Buffy -- including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 12 series, which more or less ended the original Buffy continuity -- saw Buffy and Spike more or less reunited. It's clear that Spike has always been an important figure for Buffy, but stories that focus on Buffy's later life -- especially her later life, given Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer takes places decades after her teen years came to a close -- seem to come to the conclusion that Spike is Buffy's ultimate and likely final love interest, meaning fans like Abrams might have had a point all along.