McLaughlin began his career with a 13-issue run of Aquaman for DC Comics. Frequent clashes with editor Kevin Dooley led to his dismissal from the series.

He worked for a time at Malibu Comics as a consulting editor, mostly doing creator interviews for the Ultraverse and Bravura lines.

In 1994 he began a long association with Warner Bros. Animation as a production assistant on the second season of Animaniacs. He quickly rose to Associate Producer on Superman and then to Line Producer. He contributed story material to Batman Beyond and freelanced scripts for other shows such as The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Pinky and The Brain and The Brothers Flub. He also worked on the development of the Teen Titans series before moving back to another season of Justice League.

In 2006, McLaughlin began work as a producer on the film Gene-Fusion for Beckett Entertainment and also served as the voice director on this project.

In 2010 he began the webcomic Cheapjack Shakespeare with Gabriel Benson.

In June 2010 it was announced that Cheapjack Shakespeare would be adapted to the stage and open in September.

He is attached to direct a live action film based on the comic book limited series Fade From Grace.