[5][6] In 1989, McKean illustrated the Batman graphic novel, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, with writer Grant Morrison.

[11] Further collaborations with Gaiman produced the graphic novels Signal to Noise and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch.

In 1995 McKean wrote and illustrated a book for The Rolling Stones called Voodoo Lounge to tie in with the release of their album of the same name.

McKean created a wordless erotic graphic novel called Celluloid[14] for Delcourt, which was published in the United States by Fantagraphics Books.

[citation needed] McKean has created album covers for many artists, including Counting Crows, Alice Cooper, Testament, Altan, Tori Amos, Download, Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly, Paradise Lost, Dream Theater, Stabbing Westward, Skinny Puppy,[18] Toad the Wet Sprocket, Steve Walsh[citation needed], and Delerium.

[19] Bill Bruford's Earthworks commissioned McKean artworks for six of their albums from 1994 to 2004, as well as additional images for the 2019 Complete box set.

[citation needed] McKean has also made book covers for Jonathan Carroll, Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore.

[citation needed] McKean has published five books of photography: McKean designed and illustrated John Cale's autobiography What's Welsh for Zen, a further biography called Sedition and Alchemy, a box set of C.D.s called Circus Live, and used John's Welsh-by-way-of-New York voice as the narrator for his short film Neon.

McKean has collaborated with Neil Gaiman on four children's picture books, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (1998), The Wolves in the Walls (2003), Crazy Hair (2009), and Mirrormask (2005), and illustrated Gaiman's children's novels Coraline (2002) and The Graveyard Book (2008), as well as S. F. Said's Varjak Paw (2003), Outlaw Varjak Paw (2006), Phoenix (2013) and Tyger (2022).

The National Theatre of Scotland adapted The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish into a promenade performance for young people in 2013.

A children's fantasy which combines live action and digital animation, MirrorMask was produced by Jim Henson Studios and stars a British cast Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee.

McKean directed The Gospel of Us, a film of the National Theatre Wales's Passion play in Port Talbot which stars Michael Sheen.

McKean wrote and performed a song cycle called Nine Lives[25] at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Graphic Festival.

Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash [28] is a multi-media, music, song and performance work commissioned by 14-18 Now Foundation and LICAF.

McKean has produced album artwork for many bands, such as: Paradise Lost, Machine Head, Testament, Fear Factory, Counting Crows, Dream Theater, Michael Nyman.