I assume you mean compared to PHP etc...? Well if that is what you mean you need to know HTML to use PHP anyway. So yeah HTML is a good place to start. As a bare minimum I suggest you learn HTML + CSS. Once you're familiar with that then go onto JavaScript (I'm rusty on js to be honest lol ), then MySQL + PHP + XML for more complex web applications.
Actually I wouldn't waste your time with HTML, but instead focus on XHTML. It's the cleanest form of coding and works best with CMS technologies, PHP, .net, etc. You can learn it here: http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp