Comma or semi-colon?

I believe the comma is correct. A semi-colon would separate two complete sentences.

Hmm not sure either works for me. I would try flipping the sentence round a bit or breaking it up instead.

Difficult to do without context. It sounds like it's being spoken - is it?
If spoken, maybe something like:

"He looks more like a dead walker than anything else. It's that thick ashen hair. And those eyes - they're the cold gray of weathered standing stones."

Or if it's not spoken, maybe:

"He has thick ashen hair, and eyes the cold gray of weathered standing stones. He looks more like a dead walker than anything else."

But if it works the way it is, then def comma. And you know what, reading it again, I think your sentence works fine with a comma. Eeesh, time to get away from this PC.

Definitely a comma, the way the sentence is written. Semi-colons should be used only as separators of things that could also be punctuated properly as two individual sentences, with a period between.

setchmo said:

I'm going with the comma.

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Good choice. Alpha Echo, MJNL, and Blacbird are on the mark. Way too many writers think of the semicolon as just a flashier comma, instead of its function to separate closely associated main clauses.

I don't think that you need any punctuation there, but if you really want something, then a comma would be much, much better than a semicolon.

PeterL said:

I don't think that you need any punctuation there, but if you really want something, then a comma would be much, much better than a semicolon.

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Yeah, you do need a comma. Without it, the sentence has a different meaning.

PeterL said:

I don't think that you need any punctuation there, but if you really want something, then a comma would be much, much better than a semicolon.

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Agree with CaroGirl. If you don't use the comma, you could be saying that of all of those things that have thick ashen hair and eyes the cold gray of weathered standing stones (including the dead walker with same features), the one he looks the most like is the dead walker (not, for example, old-man winter or Milton Berle...).

CaroGirl said:

Yeah, you do need a comma. Without it, the sentence has a different meaning.

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It is open to a couple of interpretations with the comma. Perhaps it should be completely rewritten.

You need a comma. But like janwyl, I like to flip such sentences, get the description up front. This makes it easier to see that a comma is required.

"With thick ashen hair and eyes the cold gray of weathered standing stones, he looks more like a dead walker than anything else."

PeterL said:

It is open to a couple of interpretations with the comma. Perhaps it should be completely rewritten.

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No, this is a simple comma required sentence. It's wrong without the comma, and right with it.

A semi-colon is usually used where a comma would otherwise create a 'comma-splice', where the two clauses between the comma do not share any common connection. A conjunction or period/full stop can also be used. In your case Setchmo, the comma has been used correctly.