Snyder wrote and drew his first project, Fashion in Action, published by Eclipse Comics as a backup feature in Timothy Truman's Scout in 1985, and then as a series of specials in 1986 and 1987.

Snyder gained notoriety shortly thereafter with his work on Matt Wagner's Grendel series, illustrating "The God and The Devil" story arc, later re-issued and collected by Dark Horse Comics.

Snyder then moved to DC Comics' Suicide Squad, written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, most notably contributing to the "Janus Directive" storyline.

It was shortly after Snyder's completion of the Suicide Squad run that he adapted and illustrated Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent for First Comics and Berkley Books.

Snyder and writer Matt Wagner re-imagined the DC Comics Golden Age character Doctor Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross) for a three-issue prestige format series in 1999, which was later collected.