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Dave McKean

Author of Arkham Asylum

100+ Works 11,970 Members 230 Reviews 11 Favorited

About the Author

Dave McKean was born on December 29, 1963 in Maidenhead, England. He is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, filmmaker and musician. McKean is best known for his regular collaboration with Neil Gaiman. MirrorMask, McKean's first feature film as director and visual designer, premiered at show more the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005. The screenplay was written by Neil Gaiman. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo taken by Kris A. Celario, can be viewed on Flikr

Series

Works by Dave McKean

Arkham Asylum (1989) — Illustrator — 2,859 copies
Mr. Punch (1994) — Illustrator — 1,666 copies
Black Orchid: The Deluxe Edition (1988) — Illustrator — 1,560 copies
Violent Cases (1991) — Illustrator — 1,035 copies
Signal to Noise (1989) — Illustrator — 985 copies
MirrorMask (children's edition) (2005) — Illustrator — 767 copies
Cages (1998) 515 copies
Mirrormask [2005 film] (2005) — Director — 206 copies
The Vertigo Tarot (1995) — Illustrator — 171 copies
John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 04: The Family Man (2012) — Illustrator — 146 copies
The Alchemy of MirrorMask (2005) 139 copies
John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 05: Dangerous Habits (2013) — Illustrator — 137 copies
Pictures That Tick (2001) 136 copies
Celluloid (1508) 79 copies
Phoenix (2013) — Illustrator — 68 copies
Black Orchid: Book One (1988) — Illustrator — 60 copies
The Weight of Words (2017) — Editor; Contributor; Illustrator — 53 copies
Black Orchid: Book Two (1989) — Illustrator — 47 copies
Black Orchid: Book Three (1989) — Illustrator — 42 copies
Mr. X: The Definitive Collection, Vol. 1 (2004) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Residents: Freak Show (1992) — Illustrator — 36 copies
Option Click (1998) 33 copies
Pictures That Tick Volume 2 (2014) 28 copies
Bento: Story Art Box (2001) 22 copies
Postcard From Vienna (2006) 20 copies
Hellblazer #027 (1989) — Illustrator — 18 copies
Postcard From Barcelona (2007) 15 copies
Cages Number Six of Ten (1991) 10 copies
Postcard from Brussels (2009) 9 copies
Cages Number Ten of Ten (1990) 8 copies
The Tip of My Tongue (1995) 5 copies
(eye) (2002) 4 copies
Signal to Noise Radio Adaptation (Signal To Noise) — Original author — 3 copies
Mister X #14 (v1) (1988) — Cover artist — 3 copies
Bitten & Bruised (2001) 3 copies
Postcard from Bilbao (2012) 3 copies
Cenas Marcantes 2 copies
Cages, Bd.1, Orte (1997) 2 copies
Luna (2017) 2 copies
Prompt (2022) 2 copies
Simpsons Comics #63 (2001) 1 copy
Wordsworth 1 copy
Blue Tree 1 copy
Caustic 1 copy
pholk 1 copy
Windows Number 1 (2000) 1 copy
Cages #03 1 copy
O Selvagem 1 copy
Cages #01 1 copy
Cages #02 1 copy
Cages #04 1 copy
Cages #05 1 copy
Cages #07 1 copy
Cages #09 1 copy

Associated Works

Crime and Punishment (1866) — Illustrator, some editions — 43,895 copies
American Gods {original} (2001) — Illustrator, some editions — 33,497 copies
Neverwhere (1996) — Illustrator, some editions — 24,809 copies
The Graveyard Book (2008) — Illustrator, some editions — 22,100 copies
Coraline (2002) — Illustrator, some editions — 20,006 copies
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013) — Illustrator, some editions — 14,705 copies
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes (1991) — Cover artist — 11,803 copies
Invisible Cities (1972) — Illustrator, some editions — 9,325 copies
The Sandman: The Doll's House (1990) — Cover artist — 8,251 copies
The Sandman: Dream Country (1991) — Cover artist — 7,168 copies
American Gods: Author's Preferred Text (2001) — Illustrator, some editions — 6,945 copies
The Sandman: Season of Mists (1992) — Cover artist, some editions — 6,812 copies
The Sandman: A Game of You (1993) — Cover artist — 6,023 copies
The Sandman: Fables & Reflections (1993) — Cover artist — 5,747 copies
The Sandman: Brief Lives (1994) — Cover artist — 5,496 copies
The Sandman: The Kindly Ones (1996) — Cover artist — 5,217 copies
The Sandman: Worlds' End (1994) — Cover artist — 5,137 copies
I Am Legend (1954) — Illustrator, some editions — 4,840 copies
The Sandman: The Wake (1997) — Cover artist — 4,829 copies
The Sandman: Endless Nights (2003) — Cover artist — 4,403 copies
Neverwhere: The Author's Preferred Text (1996) — Illustrator, some editions — 4,397 copies
Roadside Picnic (1972) — Illustrator, some editions — 3,549 copies
Death: The High Cost of Living (1993) — Cover artist — 3,468 copies
The Wolves in the Walls (2003) — Illustrator, some editions — 2,701 copies
Death: The Time of Your Life (1997) — Cover artist — 2,227 copies
The Sandman: Book of Dreams (1996) — Cover designer, some editions — 2,036 copies
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (1997) — Illustrator — 2,018 copies
The Absolute Sandman Volume One (1988) — Cover artist — 1,989 copies
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True (2011) — Illustrator, some editions — 1,938 copies
The Sandman: Overture (2013) — Illustrator — 1,542 copies
The Sandman Companion (1999) — Cover art and design, some editions — 1,249 copies
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town (2005) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,227 copies
The Absolute Sandman Volume Two (1990) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,202 copies
The Absolute Sandman Volume Three (1991) — Cover artist, some editions — 926 copies
Midnight Days (1989) — Illustrator — 806 copies
The Absolute Sandman Volume Four (1993) — Cover artist, some editions — 794 copies
Angels & Visitations (1993) — Cover artist, some editions — 776 copies
Guys Write for Guys Read (2005) — Illustrator — 764 copies
Sleeping in Flame (1988) — Cover artist, some editions — 733 copies
The Child Garden (1989) — Cover artist, some editions — 730 copies
Varjak Paw (2003) — Illustrator — 670 copies
Death: The Deluxe Edition (2012) — Illustrator; Cover artist — 635 copies
London Orbital (2002) — Illustrator, some editions — 612 copies
Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman (2008) — Illustrator — 465 copies
Crazy Hair (2009) — Illustrator — 458 copies
Blade of Tyshalle (2001) — Cover artist, some editions — 457 copies
Absolute Death (1989) — Illustrator — 365 copies
The Homecoming (Wonderfully Illustrated Short Pieces) (2006) — Illustrator — 280 copies
The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2007) — Illustrator — 243 copies
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (2005) — Illustrator — 241 copies
The Dreaming: Beyond the Shores of Night (1990) — Cover artist, some editions — 235 copies
Hellbound Hearts (2009) — Contributor — 157 copies
The Sandman #01 (Sleep of the Just) (1989) — Cover artist — 142 copies
Slog's Dad (2010) — Illustrator — 122 copies
John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Family Man (2008) — Illustrator — 120 copies
Mouse Bird Snake Wolf (2013) — Illustrator — 111 copies
Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere [1996 TV series] (1996) — Cover artist, some editions — 110 copies
New Worlds, New Civilizations (1999) — Illustrator — 90 copies
Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament (1987) — Illustrator — 88 copies
The Vertigo Encyclopedia (2008) — Cover artist — 86 copies
A Fall of Stardust (1999) — Illustrator — 81 copies
The Best of Subterranean (2017) — Cover artist, some editions — 73 copies
Ubik: The Screenplay (1974) — Cover artist, some editions — 68 copies
Breakthrough (1990) — Illustrator — 60 copies
Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy (2008) — Cover artist, some editions — 57 copies
In Dreams (1992) — Cover artist, some editions — 52 copies
First Time (2008) — Illustrator, some editions — 51 copies
Bad Doings & Big Ideas: A Bill Willingham Deluxe Edition (2011) — Illustrator — 45 copies
Doctor Who The Scripts: The Tribe of Gum (1988) — Cover artist — 43 copies
Clive Barker's Hellraiser Masterpieces Vol. 1 (2012) — Contributor — 38 copies
A Death Gallery #1 (1994) — Illustrator — 36 copies
Tyger (2022) — Illustrator — 34 copies
Edge (2004) — Contributor — 32 copies
An Honest Answer & Other Stories — Illustrator — 32 copies
Death: The High Cost of Living #1 (1993) — Cover artist, some editions — 31 copies
Death: The High Cost of Living #3 (1993) — Cover artist — 29 copies
Death: The Time of Your Life #2 (1996) — Cover artist — 23 copies
Death: The Time of Your Life #3 (1996) — Cover artist — 22 copies
Death: The Time of Your Life #1 (1996) — Cover artist — 22 copies
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Book 20 (1993) — Illustrator — 15 copies
The Endless Gallery (1995) — Cover artist — 12 copies
Where's Neil When You Need Him? (2006) — Cover artist — 12 copies
The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad — Cover artist — 10 copies
The Sandman Presents: Bast #2 (2003) — Cover artist — 9 copies
The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad #1 (2002) — Cover artist — 9 copies
The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad #2 (2002) — Cover artist — 9 copies
The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad #3 (2002) — Cover artist — 9 copies
The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad #4 (2002) — Cover artist — 9 copies
James Bond: The Living Daylights [graphic novel] (1987) — Cover artist, some editions — 8 copies
Black Orchid #05 (1993) — Cover artist — 7 copies
The Dreaming #55 (2000) — Cover artist — 6 copies
The Dreaming #13 (1997) — Cover artist — 6 copies
Black Orchid #06 (1990) — Cover artist — 6 copies
Black Orchid #20 (1995) — Cover artist — 2 copies

Tagged

(3,523) children's (1,369) classic (1,299) classics (1,449) comic (2,106) comics (8,266) dark fantasy (831) death (1,076) ebook (1,143) fantasy (25,367) favorites (855) fiction (21,533) gaiman (2,205) ghosts (1,138) goodreads (896) graphic novel (13,429) graphic novels (3,845) horror (4,282) literature (1,550) London (1,073) magic (942) Neil Gaiman (2,578) novel (2,198) own (1,163) read (4,230) Russia (1,198) Russian (1,176) Russian literature (1,653) sandman (6,064) science fiction (2,489) series (1,084) sff (1,034) signed (978) supernatural (1,268) to-read (11,675) unread (920) urban fantasy (2,307) Vertigo (1,518) YA (983) young adult (1,458)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Black Orchid is visually stunning but too frequently difficult to follow. I've seen McKean's dreamy art style on the cover pages of Sandman so I'm glad to see that they collaborated on a whole series.
 
Flagged
ethorwitz | 27 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |
Graphic novels are really not my thing. But this is the first one I've read that *felt* more like an illustrated novel than a comic book. Or at least, illustrated short story. It might be because this one has as much narrative structure as dialogue and very little action, so the artwork seemed more for building atmosphere and mimicking a sort of stop-motion movie drama, like extreme closeups, rather than depicting characters in action with voice bubbles over their heads.

The artwork is strange but compelling. The story is strange but compelling. And the ending is... unsatisfactorily unresolved.

Paperback, picked up on a whim at a Friends of the Library sale, because the author is Neil Gaiman.

I read this for the 24 Festive Tasks 2019 for Door 2 Japanese Culture Day (Nov. 3): Read a graphic novel or a book set in a school or academic setting.
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Doodlebug34 | 24 other reviews | Jan 1, 2024 |
Arkham Asylum is a classic for a reason. The story by Grant Morrison is two tales about the horrors of madness. In one, Batman must confront not only his deadliest foes (such as the Joker and Two-Face among others) but his own personal demons. Will he be driven mad too? The other story is about Amadeus Arkham, founder of the asylum that bears his name, and his descent into madness.

Arkham Asylum is a pure work of art, heavy on symbolism. Influence by Freud, The Brothers Quay, and Alice in Wonderland, Morrison and McKean took a variety of influences to create a fresh and mature look at Batman. Dave McKean's artwork is fantastic - and innovative. Creepy yet elegant, you can see how he was obvious influenced by The Brothers Quay as created a mixed media landscape for a comic. This (to my knowledge) had never been done before. It's a non-traditional comic to say the least.

Profound. Artistic. Disturbing. Moving.

This might be my favorite Batman comic.

Give us the arthouse movie adaptation, please.............
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ryantlaferney87 | 79 other reviews | Dec 8, 2023 |
I am very serious about loving books that will take me hours of research or reading the author's own explanations to understand. 5 stars, legitimately.
 
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JaneLiTBC | 79 other reviews | Nov 30, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Neil Gaiman Original author, Author, Contributor
Sean Phillips Illustrator
Steve Pugh Illustrator
Ron Tiner Illustrator
David Lloyd Illustrator
Brian Bolland Illustrator, Cover artist

Statistics

Works
100
Also by
99
Members
11,970
Popularity
#1,960
Rating
4.2
Reviews
230
ISBNs
252
Languages
15
Favorited
11

Charts & Graphs